Environmental Protected Act changed for contaminated land

Contaminated land is to get new definitions and guidance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, chiefly concerning amendments made by the Water Act 2003.

The order is set to come into force on April 6th 2012, and introduces a higher threshold for the definition of water pollution. Once the amendment is passed, regulators will have to prove either significant water pollution or a significant risk of water pollution in order to deem the land contaminated.

The current test as set out by law is judged on two levels. It is firstly judged on whether there are substances in, on or under the land that cause implications to human health or water quality. The second limb of the test deals with pollution, and this is where there has been controversy in the past.

Local authorities have argued that any water pollution is sufficient to satisfy the second limb of the test. But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has stated that the change will have an overall deregulatory effect and will deliver greater certainty than the current, broad test.

Posted by Joseph Hutton