In April 2000, Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 came into force, introducing a new regime for the regulation of contaminated land in England. Its main purpose is to provide an improved system for the identification of land that is posing unacceptable risks to health or the environment, and for securing remediation where such risks cannot be controlled by other means.
First published in 2001, this guidance note is designed to aid Local Authority officers in the application of Part 2A by facilitating a good working knowledge of the legislation, and encouraging consistency and transparency in approach. It was updated in 2007 to cover new regulations which extended Part 2A of the the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to cover radioactive contaminated land.
While it has been developed primarily for English Local Authorities, the Guide will also be of assistance to regulators in other parts of the United Kingdom.