General duties of the council
Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as inserted by the Environment Act 1995) came into force in April 2000.
This did not require an immediate inspection of sites that were suspected to be contaminated but set out a strategic approach to the inspection of the whole of the borough. The legislation is as a result of UK policy.
As well as the primary legislation statutory guidance was issued to local authorities under Department of Environment Transport & the Regions (DETR) Circular 02/2000 which has now been superseded by Defra Circular 01/2006, Environmental Protection Act 1990: Part 2A, Contaminated Land, September 2006. The council must have regard to the guidance when fulfilling its duties.
The council’s duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990
The main duties imposed on the council are:
- To cause it’s area to be inspected from “time to time” for the purpose of identifying contaminated land. See Inspecting the borough page.
- Determine whether any particular site is contaminated land and designate special sites giving due regard to the advice of the Environment Agency.
- Act as the enforcing authority for all contaminated land which is not designated as a “special site”.
- Establish who should bear responsibility for remediation- of a given piece of land (the appropriate person)
- Maintain a public register of regulatory action taken to deal with contaminated land. Read about the Part IIA Public Register.
Last updated : 06/07/2007
