Summary
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 is foundational environmental legislation covering integrated pollution control, waste management, statutory nuisance, and contaminated land. It imposes a duty of care on anyone who handles waste.
Key Points
- Part I — integrated pollution control for prescribed industrial processes (now replaced by Environmental Permitting Regulations)
- Part II — waste management: duty of care on producers, carriers, and disposers of waste (s.34)
- Waste management licensing — offence to deposit, treat, or dispose of waste without a licence
- Part III — statutory nuisance: local authorities must investigate and serve abatement notices for smoke, noise, odour, and other nuisances
- Part IIA — contaminated land regime: identification, investigation, and remediation of contaminated sites
- Fly-tipping offence (s.33) — deposit of waste on land without a licence
Parts & Sections
Amendments History
1995 — Environment Act 1995
Created the Environment Agency and inserted Part IIA on contaminated land.