4. CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) Link to this
to the Minister for the Environment
Does he support a liability regime for the assessment and clean-up of toxic sites that is both fair and clearly defined?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) Link to this
The current law is clear that the responsibility lies with landowners, and generally that is fair. For old sites, there may be a need for reform, and this is one of the issues the Government is considering as part of the second phase of the Resource Management Act reforms.
Catherine Delahunty Link to this
Will the Minister implement an amendment to the Resource Management Act, proposed in 1999 by the Minister for the Environment, Simon Upton, that included an innocent-landowner defence for owners of toxic sites who were not responsible for, or aware of, that pollution?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
There was quite a lot of policy work, in which I was also involved, in the 1990s as to whether the contaminated-site liability regime could be improved. That work came to an end and no work has been done over the last 9 or 10 years. I am open to revisiting that work. If the Green Party would like to work with the Government on revisiting the issue of some of those old sites and the liability laws, I would be very open to that.
Catherine Delahunty Link to this
Will the Minister also support the addition of identifiable polluters to the list of liable parties for the cost of assessment and clean-up of contaminated sites, as proposed by the Ministry for the Environment and Simon Upton 10 years ago?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
Yes, that could have some merit. One of the difficulties is that many of the companies that were involved at the time were actually obeying the laws of the time. A further issue is that few of the companies that then existed and that might have been responsible for the pollution actually exist now. So one of the tests when we look at the reforms is whether we are going to find some pockets that can contribute to these clean-ups. I would need to be convinced that it will be practical to justify the law change, and that is one of the issues the officials are looking at.
Catherine Delahunty Link to this
Does the Minister agree that coherent national standards for soil contamination clean-up are essential; if so, when will his ministry provide these?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
Primary responsibility for managing contaminated sites rests with regional councils. As I have said previously to the member, the Government does not intend to change that. There are some very large sites, and over the adjournment I went to the Tui Mine clean-up, where some sites are of the scale the Government should supply support to through the Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund. It is really for only those very large and significantly contaminated sites that central government needs to get in and give regional councils a help.