Environment Agency published update to CLR11

Paddy Fowler

19 June 2019

Environment Agency published update to CLR11

The Environment Agency (EA) have published an update to the Model procedures for the management of land contamination (CLR11); Land contamination: risk management (LCRM).

Read the updated guidance

We want to hear from you
The EA are seeking feedback so that the new guidance is acceptable to both industry and regulators. The IES will be producing coordinated feedback to the Environment Agency on behalf of our members, using comments submitted in response to the updated guidance. Therefore, if you work in land condition, we want to hear from you.

CLR11 was introduced as a research document in 2004 and soon became the principal guidance for managing risks from land contamination. It has, however, never been updated and was archived from GOV.UK in 2016 as part of the smarter guidance project. Archived content can be used for historical reference but it does not represent official EA or government guidance, meaning it cannot be formally held to account nor relied upon. CLR11 is too widely used and referenced to leave in the National Archive.

Reformed content
The EA have developed the reformed content based on the principles of CLR11. The scope, purpose and the framework of CLR11 remains the same.

The reformed content

represents up-to-date government guidance on land contamination risk management and is fully compliant to be published on GOV.UK
complies with new accessibility laws that the EA must meet, meaning it must be:
- accessible for people with disabilities, for example, be usable with assistive technology like screen readers
- navigable, concise, clear and understandable to all
is web-based, easier to manage, maintain and keep up to date
is now more user-focussed, shorter and easier to understand
is clear on what you have to do and where to find out more; the EA have retained the same referencing system as part 3 of CLR11, for example, INFO-RA1
has to be aimed at people that might be doing this for the first time as well as experienced professionals
is available online to use on all devices (laptop, mobile phone, tablet)

Please submit your comments to paddy@the-ies.org by 30th August.

Analysis from the archive

Analysis: Upstream analysis: water policy in 2022

Analysis: The Government’s 25 year plan for the environment