§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if his Department keeps a register of contaminated land in the UK. [118764]
§ Mr. MullinMy Department does not keep a central register of contaminated land in England. Under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which institutes a new regime for contaminated land, and which came into force on 1 April 2000 in respect of England, local authorities must keep a register of land in their area which they determine is contaminated land under that regime. Arrangements in the other parts of the United Kingdom are matters for the Northern Ireland departments, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales.
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§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has for imposing environmental obligations on owners of land which was contaminated prior to their ownership. [118765]
§ Mr. MullinIn 1995, Parliament inserted Part IIA into the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This sets out a new regime for dealing with contaminated land., which came into full effect in England from 1 April 2000. Under it, where land is identified as contaminated and the person or persons who caused or knowingly permitted the contamination cannot be found, the owner or occupier of the land can be required, subject to the provisions of the Act, to carry out the necessary remediation. These provisions restate obligations which have existed as part of the statutory nuisance regime since 1860. Although the Government consider that some amendments to the new regime are desirable, we have no proposals to change this aspect.