Contaminated Land Strategy
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Gravesham Borough Council Contaminated Land Strategy Required under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 78B July 2001 Revision 1: August 2009 Revision 2: 2 January 2013 1 Contents Page 1. Introduction & Overview 3 2. The Strategy 8 3. The Implementation of the Gravesham Strategy 11 4. Procedures 12 5. Risk Assessment 15 6. Obtaining further information on pollutant linkages and the risk assessment 16 process 7. Liaison and Communication 17 8. The written record of determination and formal notification 19 9. Review Mechanisms 20 10. Information Management 21 Appendices 1. Details of statutory Consultees and relevant contacts 22 2. Glossary of terms 23 3. Gravesham’s Past and Current Industrial History 25 Acknowledgements Geoff Baker of Gravesham Borough Council’s Planning Services Department is thanked for providing the comprehensive information on Gravesham’s current and past Industrial History. 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW 1.1 The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990 states at section 78B (1) that: Every local authority shall cause its area to be inspected from time to time for the purpose - (a) of identifying contaminated land; and (b) of enabling the authority to decide whether any such land is land which is required to be a special site (see appendix 2). 1.2 Section 78B (2) states that authorities must act in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State in this respect. Statutory guidance was first published within the Department of the Environment Transport & Regions Circular 02/2000, dated the 20th March 2000. This was replaced by Defra Circular 01/2006 dated 4th August 2006 which covered radioactive contamination of land. Contaminated Land Inspection Strategies Technical Advice for Local Authorities was released in May 2001 giving specific technical guidance on the drafting of Inspection Strategies. Annex 3 of Defra circular 01/2006, which was the Statutory Guidance part of the document, has now been replaced by Defra’s Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance document published in April 2012. In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was introduced on 27 March 2012, which removed the national Policy Planning Guidance (PPG) documents as part of the localism agenda and instead provided a framework within which local people and their accountable councils can produce their own distinctive local and neighbourhood plans, which reflect the needs and priorities of their communities. 1.3 The statutory guidance makes clear that in order to carry out their new contaminated land duties, Authorities must produce a formal contaminated land strategy document which clearly sets out how areas of land which merit detailed individual inspection will be identified in an ordered, rational and efficient manner, and in what time scale. 1.4 Gravesham Borough Council’s (GBC) strategy was completed, formally adopted and published, within a period of fifteen months from the publication of the original guidance. Copies of the final document were forwarded to the Environment Agency. Subsequently the strategy has been kept under periodic review. 1.5 In order to satisfy the far reaching objectives of the regime it is necessary to investigate land throughout the whole of the Borough and collate significant volumes of information. This process enables GBC to make the sometimes difficult and inevitably complex decisions relating to land condition, the risks it presents and who may be liable for it in law. This strategy is the first stage of that process and seeks to express as clearly as possible how each stage will be addressed. 1.6 The Government believes contaminated land to be, “an archetypal example of our failure in the past to move towards sustainable development”. The first priority is therefore to prevent new contamination via existing pollution control regimes such as Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010, Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999, Waste Management Licensing and Change of Land Use through the planning process. 1.7 There remains however a legacy of land which may already be contaminated by past activities which presents problems when moving towards sustainable development. The second priority is therefore to bring this land back into use by remediating it to a standard suitable for what it is intended to be used for. Three objectives have been 3 identified as underlying this ‘suitable for use’ approach as follows: a) to identify and remove unacceptable risks to human health and the environment; b) to seek to bring damaged land back into beneficial use; and c) to seek to ensure that the cost burdens faced by individuals, companies and society as a whole are proportionate, manageable and economically sustainable. Currently, where market forces dictate, land is remediated via the developmental control system and the council use the approach outlined above when dealing with land identified as being contaminated. A significant amount of land in the borough has been remediated in this way and will continue to do so. There are instances however when contaminated will lie derelict for long periods of time and this has the potential to damage sensitive receptors. 1.8 The introduction of the Contaminated Land Regime by Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 complements Gravesham Borough Council’s own Corporate aims and objectives in a number of ways. Land contamination has significant impacts on both the environment and the economy. This is recognised in policy NE15 of Gravesham Borough Council’s Local Plan. This requires that any proposed development on or near to land known to be or suspected to be contaminated must be accompanied by a report from a competent contractor identifying the extent and nature of the contamination and outlining the appropriate remedial measures to avoid risk from it. The development can only be progressed if the report is found to be satisfactory by the council and the remedial measures are satisfactorily implemented and certified. The identification and safe re-use of contaminated land plays a key part in the sustainable development of the area and therefore is an important part of one of Gravesham’s Corporate Business Plan’s 2011-2015 key areas of focus of ‘ensuring a sustainable high quality built and green environment and safeguarding our cultural heritage.’ This document will be made available to all interested sections of the community, businesses and developers and in so doing will promote public awareness of this important environmental issue. Dealing with contaminated land in the Borough will go towards reducing the amount of greenfield development. 1.9 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The statutory guidance states: “The local authority has the sole responsibility for determining whether any land appears to be contaminated land.” This is a significant responsibility which reflects existing local authority duties under the statutory nuisance regime and Town & Country Planning, development control. The role in broad terms includes: * To cause the area to be inspected to identify potentially contaminated sites; * To determine whether any particular site is contaminated (by definition); * To determine whether any such land should be designated a ‘special site’; and * To act as enforcing authority for contaminated land not designated as a ‘special site’. The Environment Agency also has four main roles: * To assist local authorities in identifying contaminated land (particularly where pollution to controlled waters is involved); * To provide site specific guidance to local authorities on contaminated land where 4 requested; * To act as enforcing authority for contaminated land designated a ‘special site’; and * To publish periodic reports on contaminated land. Where the presence of contaminated land has been confirmed the enforcing authority must: * Establish who should bear responsibility for remediation; * Decide after consultation what must be done in the form of remediation and ensure it is effectively carried out; * Determine liability for the costs of the remedial works; and * Maintain a public register of regulatory action in relation to contaminated land. 1.10 OUTLINE OF THE STATUTORY PROCEDURE Contaminated land is defined as: Any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in on or under the land, that - Significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused; or Significant Pollution of controlled waters is being caused, or there is a significant possibility of pollution to be caused. What may and may not constitute the various categories of harm is described in Defra’s contaminated land statutory guidance April 2012. Controlled waters include inland freshwater, groundwater and coastal waters (see appendix 2). Where harm is attributable to radioactivity, there is separate statutory guidance entitled ‘Radioactive Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance”. The April 2012 statutory guidance states that local authorities must start from the assumption that land does not pose a significant risk of significant harm unless there is a reason to consider otherwise (supported by robust science based evidence). Local authorities must search their Districts for land which has both sensitive receptors and sources of potential contamination. Relevant types of receptor are defined in Tables 1 and 2 of the April 2012 statutory guidance. Where they have good reason to believe these both exist, they must undertake a formal risk