Hazardous substances
Contaminated land
Contaminated land is land which has substances in, on or under the land which makes it unsuitable for the current use.
In order to tackle the legacy of historical contamination, the contaminated land regime was introduced in Scotland through Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This legislation included the UK's first statutory definition of contaminated land.
Duties in relation to contaminated land
The powers and duties of councils in terms of Part IIA are to:-
- Inspect the area to identify contaminated land;
- Designate special sites;
- Ensure remediation of land identified as statutorily contaminated;
- Maintain registers of contaminated land;
- Access sites to gather relevant information; and
- Recover costs of investigation and remediation works.
In fulfilling this role we follow the advice and principals as set out in Scottish Government's Statutory Guidance. We have produced a Contaminated Land Strategy which sets out our procedures for dealing with contaminated land.
