Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy 2024 to 2029

Aquifer: a body of rock or sediment that is sufficiently permeable to store and transmit water under the ground, in quantities that permit use of the water.

Apportionment: any determination by the enforcing authority under Section 78F (7) (that is, a division of the costs of carrying out any remediation action between two or more appropriate persons).

Appropriate person: defined in Section 78A (9) as: 'Any person who is an appropriate person, determined in accordance with section 78F, to bear responsibility for anything which is to be done by way of remediation in any particular case.'

Attribution: the process of apportionment between liability groups.

Contaminant: a substance, which is in, on or under the land and which has the potential to cause harm or to cause pollution of controlled waters.

Controlled waters: as defined by Part 3 of the Water Resources Act 1991 which includes relevant territorial waters, coastal waters, inland freshwaters and groundwaters (any waters contained in underground strata). However, for Part 2A purposes groundwaters does not include waters contained in underground strata that are above the saturation zone.

Cost recovery decision: any decision by the enforcing authority whether:

(a) to recover from the appropriate person all the reasonable costs incurred by the authority in carrying out remediation

(b) not to recover those costs or to recover only part of those costs

Exclusion: any determination by the enforcing authority under section 78F (6) (that is, that a person is to be treated as not being an appropriate person).

Intrusive Investigation: an investigation of land, for example by exploratory excavations, which involves actions going beyond simple visual inspection of the land, limited sampling or assessment of documentary information.

Hardship: a factor underlying any cost recovery decision made by an enforcing authority under section 78P (2).

Harm: 'harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of which they form part and, in the case of man, includes harm to his property.'

Principal Aquifer: as defined by the Environment Agency 'These are layers of rock or drift deposits that have high intergranular and or fracture permeability - meaning they usually provide a high level of water storage. They may support water supply and/or river base flow on a strategic scale. In most cases, principal aquifers are aquifers previously designated as major aquifer'.

Remediation: defined in section 78A (7) as:

(a) the doing of anything for the purpose of assessing the condition of:

(i) the contaminated land in question

(ii) any controlled waters affected by that land

(iii) any land adjoining or adjacent to that land

(b) the doing of any works, the carrying out of any operations or the taking of any steps in relation to any such land or waters for the purpose:

(i) of preventing or minimising, or remedying or mitigating the effects of any significant harm, or any pollution of controlled waters, by reason of which the contaminated land is such land

(ii) of restoring the land or waters to their former state

(c) the making of subsequent inspections from time to time for the purpose of keeping under review the condition of the land or waters

Remediation action: any individual thing which is being, or is to be, done by way of remediation.

Secondary Aquifer: as defined by the Environment Agency: 'These include a wide range of rock layers of drift deposits with an equally wide range of water permeability and storage. Secondary aquifers are sub divided into two types:

• Secondary A - permeable layers capable of supporting water supplies at a local rather than strategic scale, and in some cases forming an important source of base flow to rivers. These are generally aquifers formerly classed as minor aquifers
• Secondary B - predominantly lower permeability layers which may store and yield limited amounts of groundwater due to localised features such as fissures, thin permeable horizons and weathering. These are generally the water-bearing parts of the former non-aquifers

Source Protection Zones: these relate to groundwater sources such as wells, boreholes and springs which are used for public drinking water. As described by the Environment Agency, 'these zones show the risk of contamination from any activities that might cause pollution in the area' which could be a risk to a drinking water supply. The closer such an activity might be to a source the greater the risk.