Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990
Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as inserted by
Section 57 of the Environment Act 1995, was brought into force on 1
April 2000
The legal definition of contaminated land (as at April 2004,
from Section 78A(2) of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act
1990) is:
' …any land which appears to the local authority in whose area
it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances
in, on or under the land, that:
- significant harm is being caused or there is the
significant possibility of such harm being caused; or
- pollution of controlled waters is being, or is likely
to be, caused…'
Controlled waters include all surface watercourses or bodies,
including those which are man made, and also groundwater.
Development of land will have to take into account Part IIA as
to alter the use of the land may bring the development inside the
statutory definition of contaminated land.
A key element of the Part IIA regime is the
Source-Pathway-Receptor, known as a "pollutant linkage" . The
meaning of each element is as follows:
The source is the contamination in, on or under the
land; the pathway is the route by which the
contamination reaches the receptor; and the
receptor is defined as living organisms, ecological systems or
property which may be harmed
Without the clear identification of all three elements of the
pollutant linkage, land cannot be identified as contaminated land
under the Part IIA regime.
More Information
More information on the Part IIA regime can be found on the
Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs website -
DEFRA website.
The site also includes information on Defra policy, a Frequently
Asked Questions section relating to PART IIA and external links to
other sources of contaminated land information.
Go to next page: Duties of Contaminated
Land Officers
