Remediation & Waste Management

compliance Great_Britain Ongoing

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — general duties

Enforced by: HSE

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

General duty to protect employees and others affected by the work. Remediation is high-hazard (contaminated ground, confined spaces, hazardous substances), so the COSHH 2002, Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 and PPE duties bite heavily. NI: Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

insurance Great_Britain Annual

Employers' Liability Insurance

Enforced by: HSE

Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969

Required for any business employing at least one person.

registration Uk Annual

UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018

Enforced by: ICO

Data Protection Act 2018; UK GDPR (retained EU law)

Applies to any business processing personal data (staff, clients, subcontractors). ICO data protection fee unless exempt.

compliance Great_Britain Ongoing

Equality Act 2010 — protected characteristics

Enforced by: EHRC

Equality Act 2010

Discrimination, harassment and victimisation prohibited across the protected characteristics in employment and service provision. NI: separate equality law (s75 Northern Ireland Act 1998 and ECNI-enforced order).

compliance Great_Britain Ongoing

Waste duty of care

Enforced by: ENVIRONMENT_AGENCY

Environmental Protection Act 1990; Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011

Anyone who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste owes a duty of care under EPA 1990 s34: store it safely, transfer only to an authorised person, and complete a waste transfer note (kept for 2 years; hazardous-waste consignment notes for 3 years). Remediation always generates controlled waste (arisings, spoil, contaminated material), so this applies to every activity. The s34 duty itself extends to England, Wales AND Scotland (it is a GB-wide provision of a UK-wide Act, confirmed by its E+W+S extent on the live legislation.gov.uk register) — enforced by the Environment Agency in England, NRW in Wales, and SEPA in Scotland (applying the duty alongside the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 / formerly the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011). NI has a separate statutory duty of care under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (NIEA) — see waste_duty_of_care_ni.

compliance Ni Ongoing

Waste duty of care (Northern Ireland)

Enforced by: NIEA

The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

Northern Ireland equivalent of the GB waste duty of care. The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 imposes its own statutory duty of care on anyone who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste: store it safely, transfer only to an authorised person, and keep the required waste transfer documentation. Enforced by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).

permit England_Wales Per_Project

Environmental permit for waste operations / mobile plant

Enforced by: ENVIRONMENT_AGENCY

Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016; Environmental Protection Act 1990

A bespoke or standard-rules environmental permit (or registered exemption) is required where remediation involves a regulated waste operation — treating, depositing or recovering waste on site, or operating mobile treatment plant (e.g. soil washing, bioremediation, ex-situ treatment). Many in-situ remediation jobs run under a mobile-plant deployment or a low-risk waste exemption (e.g. U1, T-codes) registered with the regulator. Devolved: NRW issues permits in Wales under the same 2016 Regulations; SEPA authorises Scottish operations under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018; NIEA operates the Northern Ireland regime under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.

permit Ni Per_Project

Waste management licence (Northern Ireland)

Enforced by: NIEA

The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

Northern Ireland equivalent of the England & Wales environmental permit for waste operations / mobile plant. A waste management licence (or registered exemption) issued by NIEA under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 is required where remediation involves treating, depositing or recovering waste on site, or operating mobile treatment plant.

registration England_Wales Triennial

Waste carrier, broker and dealer registration

Enforced by: ENVIRONMENT_AGENCY

Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989; Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011

A business that transports its own or others' contaminated arisings/waste, or arranges (brokers/deals) its disposal, must register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer. Remediation contractors carrying others' waste are upper tier (chargeable, 3-yearly renewal). Devolved registers: NRW (Wales), SEPA (Scotland, under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018), NIEA (Northern Ireland).

permit Scotland Per_Project

Waste management authorisation (Scotland)

Enforced by: SEPA

Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018

Scottish equivalent of the England & Wales environmental permit for waste operations / mobile plant. SEPA operates a single consolidated authorisation framework — notification, registration or permit, tiered by risk — under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (EASR), which since a 2025 amendment also absorbed the waste carrier/broker registration regime formerly under the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (now revoked).

registration Scotland Triennial

Waste carrier, broker and dealer registration (Scotland)

Enforced by: SEPA

Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018

A business that transports, brokers or deals in controlled waste in Scotland must register with SEPA. The separate Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011 carrier-registration regime was revoked and folded into the consolidated Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 framework with effect from 1 November 2025.

registration Ni Triennial

Waste carrier, broker and dealer registration (Northern Ireland)

Enforced by: NIEA

Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

A business that transports its own or others' contaminated arisings/waste, or arranges (brokers/deals) its disposal, in Northern Ireland must register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer with NIEA under the Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.

notification England_Wales Per_Event

Hazardous waste handling and consignment

Enforced by: ENVIRONMENT_AGENCY

Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005

Contaminated soil, sludge, solvents and asbestos waste are frequently hazardous. Movements must travel under a consignment note, records kept for 3 years, and the receiving site must be suitably permitted. England no longer requires premises notification (abolished 2016); Wales still operates premises notification under the 2005 Regulations. Devolved: Special Waste Regulations 1996 (Scotland, SEPA); Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (NIEA).

notification Scotland Per_Event

Hazardous ('special') waste handling and consignment (Scotland)

Enforced by: SEPA

Special Waste Regulations 1996 (Scotland)

Scottish equivalent of the England & Wales hazardous waste regime. Special (hazardous) waste — including contaminated soil, sludge, solvents and asbestos waste generated by remediation work — must move under a consignment note to a suitably authorised site, with records kept and returns made to SEPA under the Special Waste Regulations 1996 as they continue to apply in Scotland.

notification Ni Per_Event

Hazardous waste handling and consignment (Northern Ireland)

Enforced by: NIEA

The Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Northern Ireland equivalent of the England & Wales hazardous waste regime. Contaminated soil, sludge, solvents and asbestos waste generated by remediation work are frequently hazardous; movements must travel under a consignment note to a suitably permitted site, with records kept and premises notification maintained with NIEA under the Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005.

compliance England_Wales Per_Project

Contaminated land regime (EPA 1990 Part 2A)

Enforced by: LOCAL_AUTHORITY

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Land determined as 'contaminated land' is regulated under EPA 1990 Part 2A: the local authority identifies and may serve a remediation notice, with 'special sites' (e.g. major contamination, water-pollution risk) regulated by the Environment Agency. Remediation businesses act as the 'appropriate person' or their contractor and must deliver works to the standard set by statutory guidance. Devolved: same Part 2A framework applied by NRW/Welsh authorities; Scotland operates its own Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2000 under EPA 1990 Part 2A as it applies to Scotland (see contaminated_land_part2a_scotland); NI under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (not yet fully commenced in NI).

compliance Scotland Per_Project

Contaminated land regime (Scotland)

Enforced by: SEPA

Environmental Protection Act 1990; Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2000

Scottish equivalent of the England & Wales contaminated land regime. EPA 1990 Part 2A as it applies to Scotland, read with the Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2000, requires local authorities to identify contaminated land and serve remediation notices, with 'special sites' (significant pollution/water risk) regulated by SEPA. Remediation businesses act as the 'appropriate person' or their contractor and must deliver works to the standard the notice or agreement sets.

compliance Great_Britain Per_Project

Control of asbestos during remediation

Enforced by: HSE

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Demolition/decontamination and ground remediation routinely disturb asbestos. Licensable asbestos work requires an HSE licence; non-licensed and notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) must still be notified, with trained operatives, RPE/PPE, air monitoring and licensed-tip disposal of asbestos waste. NI: Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (HSENI).

compliance Great_Britain Per_Project

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

Enforced by: HSE

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

Ground remediation and decontamination are construction work, so CDM 2015 dutyholder roles (client, principal designer, principal contractor) apply on projects with more than one contractor, including the F10 notification to HSE for larger/longer projects. NI: Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016.