Guidance aids local authorities to meet their contaminated land responsibilities

Implementation of the regime, which came into force on 1 April 2000 in England

and in Wales on 1 July 2001, is gathering pace with the recent publication of

Inspection Strategies by the local authority.

The guide’s comprehensive coverage includes an overview of Part 11A, with sections

on inspection, determination and notification; liability; identification of

remediation requirements; regulation and enforcement of remediation; plus appendices

listing key publications on land contamination; an example of a Part 11A Case

File Log; and cross reference between the main provisions of Part11A, the Statutory

Guidance, Regulations and the Guide.

The guide has been prepared by a consortium lead by Mary Harris of Monitor

Environmental Consultants with significant contributions from Judith Lowe. Other

members of the consortium included the Centre for Environmental Research and

Training (University of Birmingham), Denton Wilde Sapte and MA Smith Environmental

Consultancy.

Freely available

The guidance is available to download free of charge from the web sites of the

LGA (www.lga.gov.uk) and the CIEH (www.cieh.org).

The three participating bodies see major benefits resulting from their collaboration

on the guide. Environment Agency Chief Executive, Barbara Young, said: “The

Environment Agency welcomes the publication of the Guide which will greatly

assist local authorities in successfully implementing their inspection strategies.

We are looking forward to working closely with our local authority colleagues.”

Howard Price, Assistant Secretary of CIEH, added: “Part 11A is a complicated

piece of legislation; the CIEH is delighted to have been able to work with all

the other key players in its operation to shed a bit more light on it and, in

particular, to help our members in local authorities apply it consistently and

avoid some of the pitfalls.”

For the LGA, Cllr Jane Chevis, who chairs the Public Protection Executive,

commented: “The Part 11A contaminated land regime presents local authorities,

as the principal regulator, with a series of significant challenges. The production

of the LA guide is as a result of effective collaboration between the LGA, CIEH,

the Agency and DEFRA and it is hoped that this guide, and associated training,

will equip local authority officers with the knowledge they need to enforce

the legal requirements consistently and proportionately.”