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Statutory Instruments made by the National Assembly for Wales |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Statutory Instruments made by the National Assembly for Wales >> The Contaminated Land (Wales) Regulations 2001 URL: http://www.bailii.org/wales/legis/num_reg/2001/20012197e.html |
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Made | 12th June 2001 | ||
Coming into force | 1st July 2001 |
1. | Citation, commencement, application and interpretation |
2. | Land required to be designated as a special site |
3. | Pollution of controlled waters |
4. | Content of remediation notices |
5. | Service of copies of remediation notices |
6. | Compensation for rights of entry etc |
7. | Grounds of appeal against a remediation notice |
8. | Appeals to a magistrates' court |
9. | Appeals to the National Assembly for Wales |
10. | Hearings and local inquiries |
11. | Notification of the decision of the National Assembly's decision on appeal |
12. | Modification of a remediation notice |
13. | Appeals to the High Court |
14. | Suspension of a remediation notice |
15. | Registers |
1. | Special sites |
2. | Compensation for rights of entry etc |
3. | Registers |
(d) land on which a prescribed process designated for central control has been or is being carried on under an authorisation where the process does not comprise solely things being done which are required by way of remediation;
(e) land within a nuclear site;
(f) land owned or occupied by or on behalf of -
being land used for naval, military or air force;
(g) land on which the manufacture, production or disposal of -
has been carried on at any time;
(h) land comprising premises which are or were designated by the Secretary of State by an order made under section 1(1) of the Atomic Weapons Establishment Act 1991 (arrangements for development etc of nuclear devices)[3]; and
(i) land which -
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) above, "waste acid tars" are tars which -
(3) In paragraph (1)(d) above, "authorisation" and "prescribed process" have the same meaning as in Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (integrated pollution control and air pollution control by local authorities)[4] and the reference to designation for central control is a reference to designation under section 2(4) (which provides for processes to be designated for central or local control).
(4) In paragraph (1)(e) above, "nuclear site" means -
and "nuclear site licence", "licensee" and "period of responsibility" have the meaning given by the Nuclear Installations Act 1965[5].
(5) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(f) above, land used for residential purposes or by the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes shall be treated as land used for naval, military or air force purposes only if the land forms part of a base occupied for naval, military or air force purposes.
(6) In paragraph (1)(f) above -
(7) In paragraph (1)(g) above, "chemical weapon" has the same meaning as in subsection (1) of section 1 of the Chemical Weapons Act 1996[8] disregarding subsection (2) of that section.
Pollution of controlled waters
3.
For the purposes of regulation 2(1)(a), this regulation applies to land where -
Content of remediation notices
4.
- (1) A remediation notice shall state (in addition to the matters required by section 78E(1) and (3)) -
(e) particulars of the significant harm or pollution of controlled waters by reason of which the contaminated land in question is contaminated land;
(f) the substances by reason of which the contaminated land in question is contaminated land and, if any of the substances have escaped from other land, the location of that other land;
(g) the enforcing authority's reasons for its decisions as to the things by way of remediation that the appropriate person is required to do, which shall show how any guidance issued by the National Assembly for Wales under section 78E(5) has been applied;
(h) where two or more persons are appropriate persons in relation to the contaminated land in question -
(i) where two or more persons would, apart from section 78F(6), be appropriate persons in relation to any particular thing which is to be done by way of remediation, the enforcing authority's reasons for its determination as to whether any, and if so which, of them is to be treated as not being an appropriate person in relation to that thing, which shall show how any guidance issued by the National Assembly for Wales under section 78F(6) has been applied;
(j) where the remediation notice is required by section 78E(3) to state the proportion of the cost of a thing which is to be done by way of remediation which each of the appropriate persons in relation to that thing is liable to bear, the enforcing authority's reasons for the proportion which it has determined, which shall show how any guidance issued by the National Assembly for Wales under section 78F(7) has been applied;
(k) where known to the enforcing authority, the name and address of -
(l) where known to the enforcing authority, the name and address of any person whose consent is required under section 78G(2) before anything required by the remediation notice may be done;
(m) where the notice is to be served in reliance on section 78H(4), that it appears to the enforcing authority that the contaminated land in question is in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that there is imminent danger of serious harm, or serious pollution of controlled waters, being caused;
(n) that a person on whom a remediation notice is served may be guilty of an offence[12] for failure, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any of the requirements of the notice;
(o) the penalties which may be applied on conviction for such an offence[13];
(p) the name and address of the enforcing authority serving the notice; and
(q) the date of the notice.
(2) A remediation notice shall explain -
Service of copies of remediation notices
5.
- (1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, the enforcing authority shall, at the same time as it serves a remediation notice, send a copy of it to each of the following persons, not being a person on whom the notice is to be served -
(2) Where it appears to the enforcing authority that the contaminated land in question is in such a condition by reason of substances in, on or under it that there is imminent danger of serious harm, or serious pollution of controlled waters, being caused, the enforcing authority shall send any copies of the notice pursuant to paragraph (1) above as soon as practicable after service of the notice.
Compensation for rights of entry etc.
6.
Schedule 2 to these Regulations shall have effect -
Grounds of appeal against a remediation notice
7.
- (1) The grounds of appeal against a remediation notice under section 78L(1) are any of the following -
(b) that, in determining a requirement of the notice, the enforcing authority -
(c) that the enforcing authority unreasonably determined the appellant to be the appropriate person who is to bear responsibility for anything required by the notice to be done by way of remediation;
(d) subject to paragraph (2) below, that the enforcing authority unreasonably failed to determine that some person in addition to the appellant is an appropriate person in relation to anything required by the notice to be done by way of remediation;
(e) that, in respect of anything required by the notice to be done by way of remediation, the enforcing authority failed to act in accordance with guidance issued by the National Assembly for Wales under section 78F(6);
(f) that, where two or more persons are appropriate persons in relation to anything required by the notice to be done by way of remediation, the enforcing authority -
(g) that service of the notice contravened a provision of subsection (1) or (3) of section 78H (restrictions and prohibitions on serving remediation notices) other than in circumstances where section 78H(4) applies;
(h) that, where the notice was served in reliance on section 78H(4) without compliance with section 78H(1) or (3), the enforcing authority could not reasonably have taken the view that the contaminated land in question was in such a condition by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that there was imminent danger of serious harm, or serious pollution of controlled waters, being caused;
(i) that the enforcing authority has unreasonably failed to be satisfied, in accordance with section 78H(5)(b), that appropriate things are being, or will be, done by way of remediation without service of a notice;
(j) that any thing required by the notice to be done by way of remediation was required in contravention of a provision of section 78J (restrictions on liability relating to the pollution of controlled waters);
(k) that any thing required by the notice to be done by way of remediation was required in contravention of a provision of section 78K (liability in respect of contaminating substances which escape to other land);
(l) that the enforcing authority itself has power, in a case falling within section 78N(3)(b), to do what is appropriate by way of remediation;
(m) that the enforcing authority itself has power, in a case falling within section 78N(3)(e), to do what is appropriate by way of remediation;
(n) that the enforcing authority, in considering for the purposes of section 78N(3)(e), whether it would seek to recover all or a portion of the cost incurred by it in doing some particular thing by way of remediation -
(o) that, in determining a requirement of the notice, the enforcing authority failed to have regard to guidance issued by the Environment Agency under section 78V(1);
(p) that a period specified in the notice within which the appellant is required to do anything is not reasonably sufficient for the purpose;
(q) that the notice provides for a person acting in a relevant capacity[14] to be personally liable to bear the whole or part of the cost of doing any thing by way of remediation, contrary to the provisions of section 78X(3)(a);
(r) that service of the notice contravened a provision of section 78YB (interaction of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 with other enactments), and -
(s) that there has been some informality, defect or error in, or in connection with, the notice, in respect of which there is no right of appeal under the grounds set out in sub-paragraphs (a) to (r) above.
(2) A person may only appeal on the ground specified in paragraph (1)(d) above in a case where -
(3) If and in so far as an appeal against a remediation notice is based on the ground of some informality, defect or error in, or in connection with, the notice, the appellate authority shall dismiss the appeal if it is satisfied that the informality, defect or error was not a material one.
Appeals to a magistrates' court
8.
- (1) An appeal under section 78L(1) to a magistrates' court against a remediation notice shall be by way of complaint for an order and, subject to section 78L(2) and (3) and regulations 7(3), 12 and 13, the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980[15] shall apply to the proceedings.
(2) An appellant shall, at the same time as he makes a complaint, -
(b) file a copy of the remediation notice to which the appeal relates and serve a copy of it on any person named in the notice of appeal as an appropriate person who was not so named in the remediation notice; and
(c) file a statement of the names and addresses of any persons falling within paragraph (ii), (iii) or (iv) of sub-paragraph (a) above.
(3) The notice of appeal shall state the appellant's name and address and the grounds on which the appeal is made.
(4) On an appeal under section 78L(1) to a magistrates' court -
(b) any person falling within paragraph (2)(a)(ii), (iii) or (iv) above shall be given notice of, and an opportunity to be heard at, the hearing of the complaint and any hearing for directions, in addition to the appellant and the enforcing authority; and
(c) the court may refuse to grant a request by the appellant to abandon his appeal against a remediation notice, where the request is made after the court has notified the appellant in accordance with regulation 12(1) of a proposed modification of that notice.
(5) Rule 15 of the Family Proceedings Courts (Matrimonial Proceedings etc.) Rules 1991[16] (delegation by justices' clerk) shall apply for the purposes of an appeal under section 78L(1) to a magistrates' court as it applies for the purposes of Part II of those Rules.
(6) In this regulation, "file" means deposit with the justices' clerk.
Appeals to the National Assembly for Wales
9.
- (1) An appeal to the National Assembly for Wales against a remediation notice shall be made to it by a notice ("notice of appeal") which shall state -
(2) The appellant shall, at the same time as he serves a notice of appeal on the National Assembly for Wales, -
and serve on the National Assembly for Wales a statement of the names and addresses of any persons falling within paragraph (ii), (iii) or (iv) above; and
(b) serve a copy of the remediation notice to which the appeal relates on the National Assembly for Wales and on any person named in the notice of appeal as an appropriate person who is not so named in the remediation notice.
(3) Subject to paragraph (5) below, if the appellant wishes to abandon an appeal, he shall do so by notifying the National Assembly for Wales in writing and the appeal shall be treated as abandoned on the date the National Assembly for Wales receives that notification.
(4) The National Assembly for Wales may refuse to permit an appellant to abandon his appeal against a remediation notice where the notification by the appellant in accordance with paragraph (3) above is received by the National Assembly for Wales at any time after the National Assembly for Wales has notified the appellant in accordance with regulation 12(1) of a proposed modification of that notice.
(5) Where an appeal is abandoned, the National Assembly for Wales shall give notice of the abandonment to any person on whom the appellant was required to serve a copy of the notice of appeal.
Hearings and local inquiries
10.
- (1) Before determining an appeal, the National Assembly for Wales may, if it thinks fit -
and the National Assembly for Wales shall act as mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) above if a request is made by either the appellant or the Environment Agency to be heard with respect to the appeal.
(2) The persons entitled to be heard at a hearing are -
(3) Nothing in paragraph (2) above shall prevent the person appointed to conduct the hearing of the appeal from permitting any other person to be heard at the hearing and such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(4) After the conclusion of a hearing, the person appointed to conduct the hearing shall, unless he has been appointed under section 114(1)(a) of the Environment Act 1995 (power of the National Assembly for Wales to delegate its functions of determining appeals) to determine the appeal, make a report in writing to the National Assembly for Wales which shall include his conclusions and his recommendations or his reasons for not making any recommendations.
Notification of National Assembly's decision on appeal
11.
- (1) The National Assembly for Wales shall notify the appellant in writing of its decision on an appeal and shall provide him with a copy of any report mentioned in regulation 10(4).
(2) The National Assembly for Wales shall, at the same time as it notifies the appellant, send a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph (1) above to the Environment Agency and to any other person on whom the appellant was required to serve a copy of the notice of appeal.
Modification of a remediation notice
12.
- (1) Before modifying a remediation notice under section 78L(2)(b) in any respect which would be less favourable to the appellant or any other person on whom the notice was served, the appellate authority shall -
(2) Where, in accordance with paragraph (1) above, the appellant or any other person is heard, the enforcing authority shall also be entitled to be heard.
Appeals to the High Court
13.
An appeal against any decision of a magistrates' court in pursuance of an appeal under section 78L(1) shall lie to the High Court at the instance of any party to the proceedings in which the decision was given (including any person who exercised his entitlement under regulation 8(4)(b) to be heard at the hearing of the complaint).
Suspension of a remediation notice
14.
- (1) Where an appeal is duly made against a remediation notice, the notice shall be of no effect pending the final determination or abandonment of the appeal.
(2) An appeal against a remediation notice is duly made for the purposes of this regulation if it is made within the period specified in section 78L(1)[17] and the requirements of regulation 8(2) and (3) (in the case of an appeal to a magistrates' court) or regulation 9(1) and (2) (in the case of an appeal to the National Assembly for Wales) have been complied with.
Registers
15.
- (1) Schedule 3 to these Regulations shall have effect for prescribing -
(2) The following descriptions of information are prescribed for the purposes of section 78R(2) as information to be contained in notifications for the purposes of section 78R(1)(h) and (j) -
Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section 66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998[18].
D. Elis-Thomas
The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
12th June 2001
2.
The following formations of rocks are listed for the purposes of regulation 3(c)(ii) -
Period for making an application
2.
An application for compensation shall be made within the period beginning with the date of the grant of the rights in respect of which compensation is claimed and ending on whichever is the latest of the following dates -
Manner of making an application
3.
- (1) An application shall be made in writing and delivered at or sent by pre-paid post to the last known address for correspondence of the appropriate person to whom the rights were granted.
(2) The application shall contain, or be accompanied by -
Loss and damage for which compensation payable
4.
Subject to paragraph 5(3) and (5)(b) below, compensation is payable under section 78G for loss and damage of the following descriptions -
(d) damage to, or injurious affection of, any interest in land to which the grantor is entitled which is not a relevant interest, and which results from the grant of the rights or the exercise of them; and
(e) loss in respect of work carried out by or on behalf of the grantor which is rendered abortive by the grant of the rights or the exercise of them.
Basis on which compensation assessed
5.
- (1) The following provisions shall have effect for the purpose of assessing the amount to be paid by way of compensation under section 78G.
(2) The rules set out in section 5 of the 1961 Act (rules for assessing compensation) shall, so far as applicable and subject to any necessary modifications, have effect for the purpose of assessing any such compensation as they have effect for the purpose of assessing compensation for the compulsory acquisition of an interest in land.
(3) No account shall be taken of any enhancement of the value of any interest in land, by reason of any building erected, work done or improvement or alteration made on any land in which the grantor is, or was at the time of erection, doing or making, directly or indirectly concerned, if the Lands Tribunal is satisfied that the erection of the building, the doing of the work, the making of the improvement or the alteration was not reasonably necessary and was undertaken with a view to obtaining compensation or increased compensation.
(4) In calculating the amount of any loss under paragraph 4(e) above, expenditure incurred in the preparation of plans or on other similar preparatory matters shall be taken into account.
(5) Where the interest in respect of which compensation is to be assessed is subject to a mortgage -
(6) Compensation under section 78G shall include an amount equal to the grantor's reasonable valuation and legal expenses.
Payment of compensation and determination of disputes
6.
- (1) Compensation payable under section 78G in respect of an interest which is subject to a mortgage shall be paid to the mortgagee or, if there is more than one mortgagee, to the first mortgagee and shall, in either case, be applied by him as if it were proceeds of sale.
(2) Amounts of compensation determined under this Schedule shall be payable -
(3) Any question of the application of paragraph 5(3) above or of disputed compensation shall be referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal.
(4) In relation to the determination of any such question, sections 2 and 4 of the 1961 Act (procedure on reference to the Lands Tribunal and costs) shall apply as if -
Appeals against remediation notices
2.
Any appeal against a remediation notice served by the authority.
3.
Any decision on such an appeal.
Remediation declarations
4.
Any remediation declaration prepared and published by the enforcing authority under section 78H(6).
5.
In relation to any such remediation declaration -
Remediation statements
6.
Any remediation statement prepared and published by the responsible person under section 78H(7) or by the enforcing authority under section 78H(9).
7.
In relation to any such remediation statement -
Appeals against charging notices
8.
In the case of an enforcing authority, any appeal under section 78P(8) against a charging notice served by the authority.
9.
Any decision on such an appeal.
Designation of special sites
10.
In the case of the Environment Agency, as respects any land in relation to which it is the enforcing authority, and in the case of a local authority, as respects any land in its area, -
Notification of claimed remediation
11.
Any notification given to the authority for the purposes of section 78R(1)(h) or (j).
Convictions for offences under section 78M
12.
Any conviction of a person for any offence under section 78M in relation to a remediation notice served by the authority, including the name of the offender, the date of conviction, the penalty imposed and the name of the Court.
Guidance issued under section 78V(1)
13.
In the case of the Environment Agency, the date of any guidance issued by it under subsection (1) of section 78V and, in the case of a local authority, the date of any guidance issued by the Agency to it under that subsection.
Other environmental controls
14.
Where the authority is precluded by virtue of section 78YB(1) from serving a remediation notice -
15.
Where the authority is precluded by virtue of section 78YB(3) from serving a remediation notice in respect of land which is contaminated land by reason of the deposit of controlled waste or any consequences of its deposit -
16.
Where, as a result of a consent given under Chapter II of Part III of the Water Resources Act 1991 (pollution offences)[21], the authority is precluded by virtue of section 78YB(4) from specifying in a remediation notice any particular thing by way of remediation which it would otherwise have specified in such a notice, -
[9] See section 78A(8) for the meaning of "affected by".back
[13] Section 78M(1) and (3).back
[14] For the definition of "person acting in a relevant capacity" see section 78X(4).back
[16] S.I. 1991/1991 (L.32).back
[17] The period specified in section 78L(1) is the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served.back