Funding boost for environment

12.40pm

Programmes to keep New Zealand clean and green will receive an extra $26.5 million over the next four years, Environment Minister Marian Hobbs announced today.

A major part of that funding was $3.2m a year to clean up contaminated sites, while $1.5m a year would go towards establishing and operating the Bioethics Council to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification.

Other programmes were:

* $875,000 for national policy statements and environmental standards;

* $700,000 for implementing the New Zealand Waste Strategy;

* $585,000 for the Resource Management Act;

* $300,000 to extend the operations of environment centres.

"Funding for the environment in this budget underlines the Government's commitment to sound environmental management as one of the fundamental building blocks for growing an innovative economy and society," Ms Hobbs said in a statement.

Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons welcomed the funding for cleaning up contaminated sites, which was a joint initiative, and said it would lay the groundwork to tackle what was a serious problem.

"Both the Green Party and the Government are passionate about starting the hard work on contaminated sites," she said in a statement.

"This budget project will not clean up all our problem sites but it will get us under way."

- NZPA

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