What this is
What is a contaminated land record?
What is a contaminated land record?
A contaminated land record documents known or suspected contamination on a site: its history, what an investigation found, the risk to people, controlled waters and structures, and what monitoring or remediation is in place. It lets anyone planning to disturb the ground find out what is already known.
Who carries out the underlying investigation?
An environmental consultant, typically a Phase I desk study followed, where concerns arise, by a Phase II investigation. The record is completed by the environmental lead and references the consultant's report; it is not a substitute for it.
When does a record like this get reviewed?
Whenever the ground is about to be disturbed, a new investigation produces a result, at site sale, and at the stated interval regardless. A record accurate at completion becomes wrong the moment a layout change or excavation happens nearby.
Scope
When is a contaminated land record required?
This record is the site's institutional memory for ground contamination. It exists to be consulted before anyone breaks ground, not only reviewed after the fact.
Use this template when
- Contamination is identified or suspected through a desk study, investigation, incident or change in use
- A new record is needed; each one gets its own ID in the form CLR-2026-000
- Ground works or redevelopment is being planned and the site's contamination history needs checking first
- A site sale or lease requires the environmental position to be disclosed
- A linked record needs this one to exist: links Site
Do not use it for
- Biodiversity Assessment, which assesses habitat and species near the site rather than ground contamination
- Waste Stream Register or Hazardous Waste Record, which track current waste arisings rather than historic contamination in the ground
- The Phase I or Phase II investigation report itself, the technical evidence this record references, not the record
- Health surveillance or incident records, which cover exposure events to people rather than the land
- Anything outside KnowEnviro, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process
Compliance mapping
Which EPA CERCLA requirements does this satisfy?
Contaminated land is governed less by a single technical standard than by liability regimes: who has to act, and what happens if they do not. The investigation method is conventionally Phase I and Phase II assessment; the recording duty comes from the liability framework.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| CERCLA (42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq.), §107 | Liability for response costs attaches to current owners and operators, not only the party who caused the release | Risk and management |
| CERCLA §103 | Reportable releases of hazardous substances above threshold quantities must be notified to the relevant authority | Risk and management |
| ASTM E1527-21 | Phase I assessment: review of historical use, records and recognised environmental conditions | History |
| ASTM E1903 | Phase II assessment: intrusive sampling to confirm or rule out suspected contamination | Investigation |
| UK Environmental Protection Act 1990, Part 2A, s.78A-78E | Definition of contaminated land and duty on the regulator to identify and, where necessary, require remediation | Risk and management |
| US EPA Underground Storage Tank regulations, 40 CFR Part 280 | Release detection, reporting and closure requirements for underground storage tanks | History |
| CERCLA §121 | Remedial actions must attain a degree of cleanup assuring protection of human health and the environment | Risk and management |
What it does not cover
- Biodiversity Assessment, which assesses habitat and species present near the site and how operations affect them, not ground contamination.
- The Phase I or Phase II investigation report, which is the technical evidence behind this record's findings and must exist and be referenced, not replaced by a summary.
- Hazardous Waste Record, which tracks current waste generation and disposal rather than historic contamination already in the ground.
- The remediation project itself, including its design and validation, which belongs in a CAPA and project record, not this summary.
- Property transaction disclosure and environmental indemnities, which are legal instruments informed by this record but drafted separately by conveyancing counsel.
Global
Contaminated Land Record requirements by country
The duty to identify and act on contamination is near universal, but the trigger differs: strict owner-liability in the US, a formal designation regime in the UK, and provincial regimes in Canada, which this template's own basis points to directly.
CERCLA (Superfund), 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq.
Strict, joint and several liability for response costs attaches to current owners and operators, not only historic polluters.
Owning a contaminated site is enough to be liable for cleanup cost regardless of cause, so recording what was known and when is a genuine legal defence.
Provincial contaminated sites regulations (e.g. Ontario O.Reg 153/04, BC Contaminated Sites Regulation)
Site-specific risk assessment against provincial standards, with duties to investigate and, in most provinces, file at triggers such as change of use.
Because the regime is provincial, the review trigger and standard a Phase II is judged against depend on where the site sits.
Environmental Protection Act 1990, Part 2A
Land can be formally determined contaminated if a pollutant linkage to human health, controlled waters or property poses significant harm.
Once determined, remediation can be required by notice regardless of who occupies the site, so the record's risk ratings map onto what a local authority would assess.
How to complete it
How to complete a contaminated land record, step by step
The template prompts for facts. Whether the record actually protects the organisation depends on judgement the form itself does not supply.
A 'No' to groundwater affected means something different depending on whether it follows a desk study or laboratory sampling. Recording the investigation level alongside the finding lets a later reader judge how much weight it carries.
Human health, controlled waters and buildings do not move together. A plume negligible to human exposure can still be migrating toward a watercourse, and the lowest of the three understates what a regulator will ask about.
A restriction recorded here has no effect unless whoever issues excavation permits checks it. This is where contaminated land records fail in practice: not bad science, but a permit issued without consulting the register.
Whether a regulator was told, and what they said, changes over the life of the record. 'Not required' answered once at the start should be revisited if later monitoring changes the picture.
What auditors find
Most common contaminated land record findings
Contaminated land findings are rarely about missing documents. The record almost always exists; what fails is whether it reflects the site and whether anyone downstream consulted it.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Ground disturbed or excavation carried out without checking this record for a restriction. | UK EPA 1990 Part 2A | Require the excavation permit process to query the contaminated land register before approval. |
| 'No contamination detected' recorded on a desk study alone, with no intrusive investigation and no consultant referenced. | ASTM E1527-21 | Record the investigation level explicitly and route any recognised environmental condition to a Phase II scope. |
| Concentrations above screening values recorded with no regulator engagement and no monitoring in place. | CERCLA §103 | Escalate exceedances to the regulator engagement decision and set a monitoring frequency. |
| Remediation marked required with no approach selected and no CAPA reference raised. | CERCLA §121 | Do not close the field until an approach is selected and linked to an action record. |
| Underground tank history recorded as historic but closure records not referenced. | 40 CFR Part 280 | Attach the tank closure or removal certificate rather than relying on institutional memory. |
| Record not updated after a site sale or change of use, despite these being stated triggers. | CERCLA §107 | Link the review date to the property transaction and change-of-use process, not only the calendar. |
Case in point
Case in point: the restriction nobody read
A former meat-processing site had a contaminated land record from a redevelopment study years earlier: made ground present, a fuel tank removed, groundwater unaffected, and a documented restriction on ground works below one metre without a watching brief. The record was accurate and correctly filed.
A drainage contractor was later instructed to deepen a yard gully to one point six metres, because the permit-to-dig process asked about live services but not the contaminated land register. The excavation hit made ground with hydrocarbon staining, triggering a stop-work and a Phase II investigation that could have been budgeted years earlier had the restriction reached the person planning the dig.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
4 sections
- Reference
- ENV-037
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- CLR-2026-000
- Scoring
- Percent
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- EPA CERCLA, provincial regulations
- Links
- Links Site
- Tags
- Environment, Land
- Sections
- 4
- Fields
- 46
- Follow up fields
- 4
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 3
Header
12 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format CLR-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Area
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
Know What Is Under You
Historic contamination becomes your problem when you disturb it, sell the site or someone downstream finds it. Recording what is known protects you far more than not looking.
Record Type*
Historic desk study, intrusive investigation, incident related, or monitoring.
Area Reference*
Area Size
History
6 fieldsPrevious Site Uses Known*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Historic Uses
Known Historic Incidents*
- None3 pts
- Some1 pt
- Significant0 pts
Underground Tanks Present Or Historic*
- None3 pts
- Historic removed1 pt
- Present0 pts
Fuel Storage History
- None3 pts
- Above ground only2 pts
- Underground0 pts
Made Ground Present
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Investigation
8 fieldsInvestigation Carried Out*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Consultant
Report Reference
Contaminants Identified
Hydrocarbons, heavy metals, ammonia, solvents, asbestos or nutrients.
Concentrations Above Screening Values
- No3 pts
- Marginal1 pt
- Yes0 pts
Groundwater Affected*
- No3 pts
- Possibly1 pt
- Yes0 pts
Migration Off Site Possible*
- No3 pts
- Possibly1 pt
- Yes0 pts
Receptor Identified
Risk and management
20 fieldsRisk To Human Health*
- None3 pts
- Low2 pts
- Medium1 pt
- High0 pts
Risk To Controlled Waters*
- None3 pts
- Low2 pts
- Medium1 pt
- High0 pts
Risk To Buildings Or Services
- None3 pts
- Low2 pts
- Medium1 pt
- High0 pts
Remediation Required*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Remediation Approach
Regulator Engaged*
- Yes3 pts
- Not required3 pts
- No0 pts
Monitoring In Place*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Monitoring Frequency
- Quarterly or better4 pts
- Annually3 pts
- Every 2 to 3 years1 pt
- None0 pts
Restrictions On Ground Works*
Excavation permits must reference this record so nobody digs into it unknowingly.
- Yes, documented3 pts
- Informal1 pt
- None0 pts
Records Retained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Disclosed In Property Records
- Yes3 pts
- No1 pt
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Next Review Due*
Environmental Lead*
Signature*
Site Manager*
Second Signature*
ENV-037 · record IDs look like CLR-2026-000 · Links Site
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The record is a snapshot. What protects the organisation is whether its restriction reaches the permit process, and whether a site change raises a review before someone finds out the hard way.
Holds the contaminated land register against the site portfolio, flags records due for review at sale, and keeps the investigation trail attached to each finding.
Connects excavation and ground-disturbance permits to this register so a restriction is actually checked before a permit is issued, not discovered afterwards.
Tracks regulator engagement status where screening values are exceeded, so an early assumption gets revisited as monitoring evolves.
Watches site sale and change-of-use events for a trigger that should raise this record's review, and holds every write for your approval.
This template lives in KnowEnviro — environment and energy. Aspects, permits, waste, emissions, spills and sustainability reporting.
Meet KnowEnviro→Glossary
Contaminated Land Record definitions and key terms
- Made ground
- Ground disturbed or built up by human activity rather than natural, frequently indicating historic filling, demolition rubble or buried structures.
- Controlled waters
- Surface water and groundwater subject to statutory protection, the receptor against which migration and discharge risk is usually assessed.
- Source-pathway-receptor
- The model for judging real risk: a contaminant (source) needs a route (pathway) to reach something harmed (receptor) before it is live rather than latent.
- Monitored natural attenuation
- A remediation approach relying on naturally occurring processes to reduce concentration over time, verified by ongoing monitoring rather than active treatment.
- Phase I / Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
- The investigation sequence: Phase I is a desk-based historical review; Phase II follows where concerns arise, involving intrusive sampling to confirm or rule out contamination.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about contaminated land record
Does a clean desk study mean the site is not contaminated?+
No. A desk study identifies where contamination is plausible based on history; it cannot confirm absence, since it does not sample the ground. An unremarkable use history can still hide contamination nobody recorded.
Who is liable for historic contamination we did not cause?+
Under CERCLA and similar regimes, liability attaches to the current owner regardless of who caused the contamination. Recording what was known and when is the practical defence, since it shows due diligence rather than concealment.
Should risk be rated the same for human health, water and buildings?+
No. The three receptors have different pathways and tolerances. A contaminant negligible to people on site can still be an active risk to a watercourse, and one rating obscures which control needs attention.
When does the record need to be updated?+
When an investigation or monitoring round produces a result, when ground works are planned nearby, at site sale, and at the stated interval regardless. The triggers matter more than the interval.
Does a documented restriction on ground works actually stop anyone digging?+
Only if the excavation permit process checks this record before approving work. A restriction never consulted at permit stage functions as a note, not a control.
Do we need to tell the regulator every time contamination is found?+
Not for every finding, but where concentrations exceed screening values or migration is plausible, most regimes expect disclosure rather than silent management.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Environmental Management
Legal and Other Requirements Register
Lists every law, regulation, permit and commitment that applies to your operation
Compliance Evaluation Record
Records the periodic evaluation of whether you actually comply with each obligation
Waste Stream Register
Lists every waste stream produced on site, with its classification, container and disposal route
Waste Transfer Record
Records waste leaving site, including type, quantity, carrier and destination
Hazardous Waste Record
Records generation, storage and disposal of hazardous waste
Waste Area Inspection
Checks waste storage areas for correct segregation, labelling, containment and housekeeping
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq., including §103, §107 and §121
- ASTM E1527-21, Standard Practice for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
- ASTM E1903, Standard Guide for Phase II Environmental Site Assessments
- UK Environmental Protection Act 1990, Part 2A, sections 78A-78E
- US EPA Underground Storage Tank regulations, 40 CFR Part 280
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.