In September 2006, the European Commission proposed a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection that included proposals for a Soil Framework Directive. This followed the 6th EC Environment Action Programme that recognised the need to ensure adequate protection of Europe’s soil resources.

The UK government supports the general aims of the Thematic Strategy but it is concerned that the proposed Directive is overly prescriptive, giving Member States insufficient flexibility to rely on effective existing approaches to soil protection. In their present form, the proposals are likely to mean that high costs have to be incurred which are not justified by the seriousness of the risks involved.

The creation of the HPA was proposed in a document prepared by the Chief Medical Officer of England in 2002 entitled Getting Ahead of the Curve and subsequently came into service in April 2003. The report highlighted the need for a central agency to give authoritative advice and support on environmental hazards, whether chemical, biological, radiation or nuclear. Under the HPA Non- Departmental Public Body Act (2004) Section 2, the following functions of the HPA are defined:

• To protect the community (or any part of the community) against infectious disease and other dangers to health;
• The prevention of the spread of infectious disease;
• The provision of assistance to any other person who exercises function in relation to these matters.

There are currently two key pieces of policy that require risk assessment of potentially contaminated land. The principal legislation is Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 introduced in 2000. This requires local authorities to identify existing sites that, as a result of contamination, pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. Such sites may then be determined as ‘contaminated land’ and steps should be taken to reduce the risks to acceptable levels.

This article provides an update on some of the developments I mentioned in last year’s Yearbook, plus some new developments.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING (ENGLAND AND WALES) REGULATIONS 2007
The new Environmental Permitting Regulations (EP Regulations) came into force in England and Wales on 6 April 2008, the culmination of years of work to provide England and Wales with a new and more efficient permitting and compliance platform. They replace Waste Management Licensing (WML) and Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) and the Environment Agency has worked with Defra and Welsh Assembly Government to cherry pick the best of both the old regimes to produce the new single system. All of this can be achieved whilst maintaining current environmental standards and is part of the Government’s goal of reducing administrative burden on industry.

I have a feeling of déjà vu as I sit down to prepare this piece for the Land Remediation Yearbook – once again writing about waste regulation in the context of land remediation. So apologies to all of those who thought they were working in development, not as waste managers, but as has been said before – we are where we are. Hopefully though, this article will herald a significant step towards better regulation in an area that has exercised practitioners and regulators over the past decade or more...

Remediation technologies are now much more widely used in the UK since the implementation of Landfill Directive requirements in July 2004. At the same time, this was encouraged by the drive for soil re-use and recycling as part of a more sustainable redevelopment agenda. Co-disposal of different waste types was banned in 2004 with the costs of waste disposal rising as a consequence and exacerbated by increasing landfill-tax rates. Additional regulations on waste acceptance and pre-treatment of wastes before landfill disposal have only encouraged this move towards treatment rather than disposal.

This article aims to provide a guide to the latest guidance on contaminated-land remediation. Such guidance is issued by a number of organisations, government departments and agencies and can take varying forms. When using the guidance, a view needs to be taken as to its relevance, how current it is, and what weight should be placed on it. Anyone using the guidance referred to should bear in mind that it may be revised, replaced, or removed at any time. The usual caveats therefore apply: that this article should not be relied upon as providing a complete guide to all relevant guidance and it is only up to date as at the time of writing in mid-March 2008.