When your land is identified as contaminated
If you own, occupy, or have previously used a site, you may be contacted by your local authority about contaminated land. Local authorities have a duty under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to inspect their area and identify contaminated land. Land is contaminated if substances in, on, or under it are causing, or could cause, significant harm to health, controlled waters, or the environment.
Being identified as a potentially liable person does not mean you will automatically receive a remediation notice. Regulators prefer voluntary action and must consult you for at least 3 months before serving a formal notice. However, you need to understand the regime, your potential liability, and the steps you should take to protect your position.
The Part 2A regime has its own process. Contamination found during development is usually dealt with through the planning system instead, using planning conditions.
Remediation notices
When a local authority (or the Environment Agency for special sites) determines that land is contaminated, it must identify the appropriate person responsible for remediation. The authority must consult with you before serving a formal remediation notice. Understanding what a notice requires and your rights during the consultation period is essential.
Voluntary remediation
If you are identified as a potentially liable person, acting voluntarily is almost always the better course of action. Under Section 78H(5)(b), the enforcing authority must not serve a remediation notice if you are carrying out, or will carry out, remediation voluntarily.
Advantages of voluntary remediation include:
- You keep more control, choosing your own consultants and agreeing the approach with the regulator rather than having requirements imposed through a notice.
- You avoid the risk of a criminal record, because failing to comply with a remediation notice is a criminal offence.
- You can phase the works and negotiate their scope with the regulator, which may reduce the overall cost.
- Remediation notices go on a public register, while voluntary remediation results in a remediation statement, which carries less stigma.
- Showing you are willing to cooperate can lead to a more proportionate regulatory response.
Even if you dispute liability, engaging constructively with the regulator during the consultation period is recommended. Seek specialist legal advice on your liability position while demonstrating willingness to cooperate on the technical aspects.
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Understand the requirements in the notice or consultation letter
Read the determination and any draft remediation notice carefully. Identify exactly what contamination has been found, which pollutant linkages have been established (source, pathway, and receptor), and what remediation is being required. Note the consultation deadline.
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Get professional advice immediately
Appoint a contaminated land specialist (environmental consultant) and a solicitor with environmental law experience. The consultant will review the technical evidence and the solicitor will advise on your liability position and any grounds for appeal. Do this as early as possible in the 3-month consultation period.
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Respond to the consultation
Submit a formal response to the enforcing authority within the consultation period. If you disagree with the determination or the proposed remediation, set out your grounds clearly with supporting evidence. If you agree, confirm your intention to remediate voluntarily and propose a timetable.
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Develop a remediation plan
Work with your environmental consultant to prepare a remediation strategy and options appraisal following the Environment Agency LCRM framework. Submit this to the regulator for approval. The plan should cover investigation, risk assessment, chosen remediation method, implementation timetable, and verification.
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Carry out the remediation works
Implement the approved remediation plan using appropriately qualified contractors. Maintain detailed records of all works, including soil sampling results, waste transfer notes, and as-built drawings. The regulator may inspect the works during this stage.
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Obtain verification of completion
Commission your environmental consultant to prepare a verification report demonstrating that the remediation objectives have been met. This must include analytical results, comparison against remediation criteria, waste disposal records, and confirmation that all pollutant linkages have been broken.
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Submit the verification report to the regulator
Provide the completed verification report to the enforcing authority for review and approval. Once accepted, the authority will update its contaminated land register. Retain a copy of all records as evidence of compliance for future property transactions.
Costs and penalties
Non-compliance with a remediation notice carries significant criminal penalties. The offence under section 78M is triable only in the magistrates' court (there is no trial on indictment). In England and Wales the fine is unlimited for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015, and daily fines apply for continuing offences. The statutory maxima are higher for land used for industrial, trade, or business purposes. Where prosecution would be an ineffectual remedy, the enforcing authority can instead take High Court proceedings to secure compliance.
Working with regulators
The enforcing authority is your local authority for most sites, or the Environment Agency for "special sites". The special-site categories are set out in Schedule 1 to the Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2006 and include specified water-pollution cases (such as land affecting drinking water sources or major aquifers), waste acid tar lagoons, petroleum refining, explosives manufacture, sites regulated under Part A(1) environmental permits, nuclear sites, Ministry of Defence land, and radioactively contaminated land.
Practical tips for effective engagement
- Respond promptly to all correspondence. Delays can be read as a lack of cooperation and may bring forward formal enforcement.
- Attend meetings with the regulator and bring your environmental consultant, because technical discussions go better with specialists present.
- Share site investigation data and historical information openly. Withholding it undermines trust and can weaken your position.
- Confirm what has been agreed at each stage in a follow-up letter or email to the regulator.
- Keep a complete file of correspondence, technical reports, waste transfer notes and costs incurred. You may need it for cost recovery claims against other liable parties.
Cost recovery from other liable parties
If you believe another party caused or knowingly permitted the contamination (a Class A person), you may have grounds to recover remediation costs from them through civil proceedings, even if you have been required to remediate as the current owner (Class B person). Take legal advice on this at an early stage.
Hardship provisions
If the cost of remediation would cause you hardship, the enforcing authority must take this into account when deciding whether to recover its costs. This protection applies particularly to Class B owner-occupiers. You will need to provide financial evidence to support a hardship claim.
Land affected by contamination - Environment Agency guidance (opens in a new tab)
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations