ABSTRACT
The Part 2A Environmental Protection Act 1990, which enables local authorities (LAs) or the Environment Agency to require the remediation of contaminated land, came into force on 1 April 2000. Previous legislation, Section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, was rejected because of unpopularity with the development industry and others; the present code was introduced as part of the Environment Act 1995, after which there followed a five-year process of publishing and revising draft guidance on the detailed operation of the scheme. Estimates of the total area of contaminated land in the UK vary from 16,000 hectares to 200,000 hectares. It is important to note that the new legislation will only deal with land where contamination is causing harm or pollution of controlled waters, or is likely to do so. If contamination can be shown to be contained within a site this legislation will not apply a distinction to be borne in mind during property transactions.
