Further information on contaminated land

Before advising on the contaminated land regime a small library is required, which should include the following.

Ground investigation

• Guidance for safe intrusive activities on contaminated or potentially contaminated land, British Drilling Association, 2008
• Code of Practice for ground investigations, Code of Practice, BS 5930:2015, British Standards Institute, 2015
• Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Sites, Code of Practice, BS 10175:2011, British Standards Institute, 2011

Pollution prevention guidelines

This publication was withdrawn on 14 December 2015. All pollution prevention guidance (PPGs) that was previously maintained by the Environment Agency has been withdrawn from use and can now be found on the National Archives as follows:

• PPG1: General Guide to the Prevention of Pollution, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service
• PPG2: Above Ground Oil Storage Tanks, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service
• PPG3: Use and design of oil separators in surface water drainage systems, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service
• PPG4: Treatment and disposal of sewage where no foul sewer is available, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service
• PPG26: Storage and handling of Drums and Intermediate Bulk Containers, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service
• PPG27: Installation, Decommissioning and Removal of Underground Storage Tanks, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service.

Ground gas

• Assessing risks posed by hazardous ground gases to buildings (revised) (C665), Construction Industry Research and Information Association, 2007
• Landfill Gas, Waste Management Paper No.27, Department of the Environment, 1991
• Protecting Development from Methane (Report 149), Construction Industry Research and Information Association, 1995
• Interpreting Measurements of Gas in the Ground (Report 151), Construction Industry Research and Information Association, 1995
• Guidance on evaluation of development proposals on sites where methane and carbon dioxide are present (4th edition), NHBC and RSK, March 2007
• Risk Assessment for Methane and other Gases from the Ground (Report 152), Construction Industry Research and Information Association, 1995

Planning

• Town and Country Planning Act 1990
• Circular 11/95, The Use of Conditions in Planning Permission, Department of the Environment, 1995
• National Planning Policy Framework 2012, Department for Communities and Local Government

One area where local authorities have been able to achieve remediation at contaminated sites for a number of years is through a planning condition. This may state:

'no development shall commence on site until an investigation and assessment has been carried out to identify possible contamination and to determine measures necessary to relate such contamination and the details of such investigation, assessment and measures proposed have been submitted to and approved in writing, by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall thereafter proceed solely in accordance with the measures as approved by the Local Planning Authority and there shall be no variation or departure from the approved measures without the prior regime agreement of the Local Planning Authority.'