Amy Adams28 AUGUST,
2013 - Following announcements made in April,
Environment Minister Amy Adams has today
released a supplementary order paper (SOP)
to the Marine Legislation Bill to introduce
a new non-notified discretionary classification
for the marine consent regime under the
Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental
Shelf Act.
The Marine Legislation
Bill transfers the regulation of dumping
and certain discharges related to EEZ activities
from Maritime NZ to the Environmental Protection
Authority (EPA).
A new non-notified discretionary
category would provide the EPA with similar
options to those currently available under
the Maritime Transport Act for considering
discharge and dumping activities.
The new classification
would also provide an appropriate level
of oversight and discretion by the EPA for
activities that take place over a short
period of time or are routine but still
necessitate full regulator discretion.
Ms Adams has today also
released a discussion document seeking feedback
on what is proposed to be included in the
non-notified discretionary classification.
The discussion document
outlines proposals for the effective management
of exploratory drilling for oil and gas,
discharges of harmful substances and dumping
of waste in the EEZ.
“The proposals in the
discussion document balance the need to
protect the ocean environment, while not
overly burdening industry with excessive
costs and extended timeframes,” Ms Adams
says.
“Commercial activity
in our EEZ needs to be carefully managed.
It makes sense for the level of regulation
of activities in the EEZ to be proportionate
to the scale and environmental effects of
these activities.
“For example, I am advised
that exploratory drilling for oil and gas
generally takes place over a period of about
four to six weeks, so a simplified process
that retains full regulatory discretion
appears to be an appropriate response.”
Submissions can be made
from today and close on 25 September.
+ More
100,000 televisions
collected under Govt scheme
Amy Adams14 AUGUST,
2013 - Environment Minister Amy Adams has
marked the 100,000th television to be collected
for recycling under the Government’s TV
Takeback programme by taking her own worn-out
television to a recycling facility.
The TV TakeBack programme
aims to divert televisions from going to
landfill in an initiative that involves
the Government partnering with a range of
councils, recyclers and retailers to provide
a nationwide network of subsidised options.
Ms Adams says recycling
100,000 televisions is good news for the
environment.
“Old televisions are
a difficult recycling challenge, but through
people thinking about the environment, we
have stopped thousands of tonnes of harmful
material going to landfill,” Ms Adams says.
Ms Adams says her old
television had been sitting at home unused
for some time, and like tens of thousands
of other New Zealanders, the TV TakeBack
programme had prompted her to recycle it.
“The TV TakeBack scheme
makes recycling a television affordable
and straightforward.
“If people are cleaning
out their house or garage and want to get
rid of an unwanted television, there is
no excuse for not disposing of it responsibly.”
The programme was launched
in Hawke’s Bay and the South Island’s West
Coast in October last year, to coincide
with the Going Digital campaign. It was
then rolled out to the rest of the South
Island earlier this year.
The initiative will
get underway in the lower North Island and
the East Cape later this month, and the
rest of the North Island from October.
Through a Government
subsidy, the cost to the public to recycle
a television is no more than $5.
The
programme also aims to improve recycling
infrastructure, raise public awareness,
and investigate options for the long-term
management of electronic waste.
