To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many acres of contaminated land are in urban areas. [78404]

The information requested is not currently available. When the new Contaminated Land regime under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is brought into force later this year, local authorities will have a duty to inspect their ideas to identify, and require the remediation of contaminated land which is causing unacceptable risks, assessed in the context of the current use of the land. Part IIA will also place a duty on the Environment Agency to prepare a periodic statistical report on contaminated land, based on information produced by local authorities.