Land contamination risk management (LCRM)
How to assess and manage the risks from land contamination.
Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales
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The Environment Agency expects you to follow this guidance if you are managing the risks from land contamination.
If you use this guidance outside England, check with the relevant regulator about its suitability.
You can use this guidance in Wales but you must also follow land contamination on the Natural Resources Wales website to meet any different requirements.
For Northern Ireland, you must also refer to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Practice guide – redeveloping land affected by contamination held on their ‘Development of land potentially affected by contamination’ webpage.
Local authorities and other regulators may also provide additional guidance.
Updates to this page
Last updated 20 July 2023 + show all updates
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The updates include: recommending the use of an accredited spill responder for new pollution incidents in the Competent person section; adding more information on dealing with pollution incidents; clarification on when you can use LCRM for new pollution; information on the importance of taking climate change into account; confirmation that Natural Resources Wales support the use of the NQMS and fixes to broken links.
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Updated the section on chemical testing of soils (in LCRM: Stage 1 risk assessment) with a new protocol for using rapid measurement techniques. Added a new section on the CL:AIRE gas protection verification accreditation scheme. Added a reference to Natural Resources Wales who have now adopted the guidance.
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First published.