Common questions and answers

Are the provisions of Part IIA in force in Scotland?
Yes, the provisions came into force on 14 July 2000.

What does Part IIA do?
It provides the legislative framework for the identification and remediation of contaminated land, introducing for the first time a statutory definition of contaminated land. It is aimed at addressing land which has been historically contaminated with chemicals and which poses unacceptable risks to human health or the wider environment in the context of current use of the land.

Who is the lead regulator for Part IIA?
Local authorities are the lead regulator. For contact details of your local authority please use the link below:
List of Scotland local authorities land contamination pages

What will Local Authorities do under Part IIA?
Local authorities have duties to:

  • inspect their areas to identify contaminated land and designate special sites;
  • secure remediation of land identified as contaminated;
  • maintain public registers of remediation of such land.

Local authorities also have powers to recover the costs of remediation that they undertake themselves.

What will SEPA do under Part IIA?
SEPA is the regulator for a sub-set of sites known as "special sites" (the Regulations explain which sites these will be). SEPA has duties to:

  • secure remediation of special sites;
  • maintain a register of special sites and their remediation;
  • prepare a national report on the state of contaminated land;
  • SEPA has the responsibility as the enforcing authority for the investigation, identification, characterisation and regulation of remediation of radioactively contaminated land (RCL);
  • SEPA may also provide site specific advice to local authorities and recover the costs of remediation that it does itself.

How does Part IIA work?
Part IIA works by local authorities developing and implementing strategic approaches to the identification of contaminated land. Once land has been identified as contaminated, the enforcing authority will hold discussions with persons likely to be responsible for addressing the contamination, to agree on what remediation action is required.

How will local authorities and SEPA liaise under Part IIA?
SEPA and local authorities have agreed a framework pdf link (112kb) for liaison under Part IIA.

What is statutorily contaminated land?
Part IIA defines contaminated land 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 the water environment is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such pollution being caused"

Will Part IIA encompass all contaminated land?
No, it is very important to remember that Part IIA only covers a sub-set of land that in its current use is causing, or has the potential to cause significant harm or significant pollution of the water environment.

Are there standards defining what is and is not contaminated land?
No, there are no statutorily defined standards for concentrations of contaminants in soil. Part IIA adopts a risk-based approach in which harm and pollution of the water environment should be considered on a site by site basis.

How is harm defined?
Harm is defined by Part IIA as " harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with ecological systems of which they form a part, and in the case of man includes harm to his property". The statutory guidance should be referred to for further advice.

How is significant pollution of the water environment defined?
Section 78A(9) of Part IIA defines pollution of the water environment in terms of the direct or indirect introduction into the water environment of substances which may give rise to harm to human health or the quality of aquatic ecosystems or terrestrial ecosystems directly depending on aquatic ecosystems, result in damage to material property or impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the water environment.

The term “water environment” is itself defined in the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (“WEWS Act”), which gave Scottish Ministers powers to introduce regulatory controls over activities in order to protect and improve Scotland's water environment.

Why are there no standards for cleaning up contaminated land?
The regime establishes a site-specific risk based approach and does not provide for the establishment of statutory standards. Remediation objectives will be established for individual sites based on an assessment of the risks posed to the receptors at the site, when the need arises. If standards were adopted, they would need to be so conservative to protect all receptors in all circumstances that they would become impracticable.

Can guideline values be used?
The statutory guidance indicates that authoritative and scientifically based guideline values (or methods to derive these) may be used if these are relevant to the specific risks to the receptor in question and provided that they are appropriate to the site under consideration. A number of generic CLEA guideline values have been derived by the Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment model and have been published by DETR. These may inform both risk assessment and risk management, but only for human receptors. It should be noted that the ICRCL Guidance Note 59/83 has been officially withdrawn by DEFRA since December 2002.

What is a pollutant linkage?
A pollutant linkage represents the presence of a source of contamination which has the potential to impact on a receptor by means of a pathway.

SOURCE (substances in soil or present as a discrete phase ) PATHWAY (air, soil, foodchain, groundwater, surface water) RECEPTOR (humans, ecosystems, property, controlled waters)

Significant pollutant linkages need to be present in order for land to be identified as contaminated. The statutory guidance limits what can be considered as a receptor under Part IIA to certain designated ecosystems, human health, property and the water environment.

What is a site conceptual model and how do I make one?

A site conceptual model (CSM) is a simplified representation of how the real system is believed to behave based on a qualitative analysis of field data. It is a vital part of the assessment of the risks posed by contaminated land.  The CSM should be formulated during the initial stages of a site investigation to help the assessor to verify that they have investigated all the potential pollution linkages present at the site.  The CSM should be developed concurrently with the site investigation to allow the model to be progressively refined. The final CSM should incorporate all of the pollutant linkages for that site, and should be refined by the data collected during the site investigation.

The CSM allows the assessor to determine the most likely pathways for contaminant movement, which is a vital part of the assessment.  The assumptions made for the CSM and the pollutant linkages should then be used to inform the selection of the most appropriate model to use at that individual site.  The model that is finally selected for risk assessment should be capable of modelling ALL the identified pollution linkages, or if two or more models are needed these should be progressed.  The assessor must justify the use of a particular model on a site by site basis and this justification should be included in any reports about the site. A further useful check is to ensure that site data does not contradict the output from the model used.  In cases where such conflicts arise it is recommended that the assessor should rely on the field monitoring data rather than the models outputs.

For information on how to develop a conceptual model refer to the following publication by the Environment Agency:
“Guide to Good Practice for the Development of Conceptual Models and the Selection and application of Mathematical Models of Contaminant Transport Processes in the Subsurface” pdf link (530k)


What are special sites and do they represent the most severely contaminated land?
Special sites are defined by the Regulations and represent contaminated land at which SEPA becomes the enforcing authority following designation by local authorities. The sites fall to SEPA to control mainly on the basis of SEPA's involvement under other regulatory regimes and are not necessarily because they are the most contaminated.

Can SEPA tell me now if an area of land is likely to be a special site?
No, local authorities are responsible for designating contaminated land as a special site, but they are unlikely to provide comment prior to arriving at such a decision. If you wish to consider whether an area of land is likely to be a special site, reference should be made to the Regulations, Statutory Guidance and circular.

Who will clean-up contaminated land?
People who have caused or knowingly permitted the substances to be in, on or under the land will have the primary responsibility for remediating contaminated land. If these people cannot be found, then existing owner or occupiers may become responsible. The legislation and the Statutory Guidance refers to these people as "appropriate persons" and the statutory guidance should be referred to for further information on who constitutes an appropriate person and on the apportionment of liability between such persons.

Can SEPA tell me now if I will have to clean up any land?
No, SEPA will speak to "appropriate persons" at the correct stage in the regulatory process. It is likely that the local authority will be the first to contact an "appropriate person".

What will be the benefit of cleaning-up all the contaminated land? What if it is so expensive that it puts me out of business?
Firstly, the benefit of cleaning-up the contaminated land, is that harm to people and the environment will be stopped. This is consistent with sustainable development. However, it is not the intention to put anyone out of business. With this in mind, the Statutory Guidance provides advice on apportioning the costs of remediation and only requires remediation when it is reasonable to do so.

Will SEPA be serving lots of remediation notices?
It is the spirit of the legislation to encourage voluntary remediation. Where possible, SEPA will seek to agree what remediation needs to be carried out and will encourage Appropriate persons to publish a statement of the work to be undertaken (a remediation statement), rather than SEPA serving notices.

Does SEPA "sign off" sites as not being contaminated?
No. Local authorities have the responsibility for deciding whether a site should be identified as contaminated land. The Act provides for details being entered onto the register indicating what has been claimed to have been done by way of remediation. The contaminated land circular indicates that enforcing authorities may wish to consider writing to appropriate persons confirming the position with respect to any further enforcement action. It is highly unlikely that SEPA will ever be in a position to do this.

Does land which is being redeveloped fall under Part IIA?
No, land subject to a change of use falls under the planning system. Any issues regarding chemical contamination should be addressed in the planning process with a view that the redeveloped land should not be identified as statutorily contaminated when put to the new use.

Will Part IIA affect the way contaminated land is dealt with under planning?
Contaminated land has been dealt with under the planning system for many years and this has not changed with the introduction of Part IIA, although The Scottish Government has updated the planning guidance to authorities on how they should exercise their roles.

How do I find out the status of a Site?
Consult with the relevant local authority.

What are the differences between Part IIA in Scotland and England?
Whilst the Regulations and Statutory Guidance are derived from the same primary legislation, there are some differences. Major differences are that: local authorities just seek advice from SEPA in relation to potential special sites, whereas in England, it is intended that the Environment Agency undertake the inspection on behalf of local authorities; notifications of identification of contaminated land appear in the public registers in Scotland, whereas in England they do not; the 2000 Scottish Regulations specify the form of the remediation notice, whilst the English Regulations just specify the content; and the provisions came into force earlier in England (1 April 2000). The Regulations and Statutory Guidance should be compared to understand these differences.

How can I find out more about Part IIA?
The best source of information is Paper SE/2006/44: Environmental Protection Act 1990: Part IIA Contaminated Land - Statutory Guidance: Edition 2 external link,  The Contaminated Land Regulations 2000 (SSI 178), The Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2005, and section 57 of the Environment Protection Act 1995. These can be viewed on The Scottish Government web site external link.