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Environment Minister Amy Adams and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith have today announced the members of an independent Board of Inquiry to consider a proposal for a new section of highway between Pūhoi and Warkworth.

The proposal was directed to a Board of Inquiry last month by Ms Adams and Dr Smith.

The application by the New Zealand Transport Agency relates to the construction, operation and maintenance of the Pūhoi to Warkworth section of the Ara Tūhono-Pūhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith have today announced the appointment of eight board members to the Auckland Unitary Plan hearings panel.

The Auckland Unitary Plan will be the first combined resource management plan for Auckland and will replace the regional policy statement, and the regional and district plans that Auckland Council inherited from the eight former councils of the Auckland region.

The Government is seeking feedback on draft regulations to classify exploratory oil drilling under the EEZ Act, Environment Minister Amy Adams announced today.

The draft regulations propose classifying exploratory drilling for oil and gas as a non-notified discretionary activity.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today released a report into a review of the Christchurch City Council’s resource management functions.

Ms Adams asked the Ministry for the Environment to carry out the assessment following International Accreditation New Zealand’s decision to revoke the council’s certification to issue building consents.

The review has found there are a number of minor issues with the council’s consenting function, but these are within the council’s capacity to resolve.

Environment Minister Amy Adams today welcomed the release of a report into the effects of oil pollution on the Bay of Plenty environment, following the Rena grounding.

“While the key findings of scientific monitoring and sampling show that the environment has not yet returned to its pre-Rena state, it is encouraging to see that the environment is recovering,” Ms Adams says.

“The report concludes that the grounding of the Rena should have no long-lasting effects on Bay of Plenty beaches and coastal fisheries.”

Environment Minister Amy Adams says David Cunliffe’s so-called secret document has been publicly-available for more than two years.

“David Cunliffe’s shameless scaremongering is ill-informed and smacks of someone desperate for attention.

“The report he refers to has been publicly-available for more than two years. I would have thought as a former ICT Minister and Labour’s current ICT spokesman, he would be able to navigate the internet.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have welcomed a water quality report released today by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

“The report underlines the importance of the Government’s freshwater reform programme, by showing just what could happen with our water quality if we do not have good policy in place to drive more careful and efficient use of our land and water,” Ms Adams says.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced the appointment of David McMahon to the Basin Bridge Board of Inquiry.

The Board of Inquiry is considering the New Zealand Transport Agency’s application to construct, operate and maintain a two lane, one-way bridge on the north side of the Basin Reserve.

The proposal is part of the Wellington Northern Corridor Road of National Significance.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith have announced that the New Zealand Transport Agency’s proposal for a new section of highway between Pūhoi and Warkworth will be directed to an independent Board of Inquiry.

The application relates to the construction, operation and maintenance of the Pūhoi to Warkworth section of the Ara Tūhono-Pūhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance.

Environment Minister Amy Adams today announced the accreditation of two product stewardship schemes that cover the recycling of plastic, aluminium, paper, glass and cardboard packaging.

The Fonterra Milk for Schools product stewardship scheme covers the collection of used packaging generated through its nationwide programme.

The used packaging is processed at Fonterra sites before being sent to international recycling facilities overseas, where it is broken down and used to make products such as roof tiles, books and paper.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have today released proposals for improving freshwater management, including national water standards.

“Ensuring an on-going and reliable supply of healthy water is one of the most important environmental and economic issues facing New Zealand today,” Ms Adams says.

“It is critical that we protect and improve the water quality that we all care so much about.”

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today launched a campaign aimed at reducing the number of New Zealanders dying from exposure to hazardous substances at work.

The three-year multi-media campaign is designed to awaken New Zealanders to the fact that taking hazardous substances for granted can have deadly consequences.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced that she has decided to prevent damming on the Nevis River in Otago.

Ms Adams says that a dam or diversion on the lower Nevis River would have major negative effects on its wild and scenic qualities, and fishing and kayaking.

“This has been a difficult decision and one that I have given a great deal of thought and consideration.

Environment Minister Amy Adams says the final phase of a programme to encourage the recycling of unwanted televisions and raise investment in New Zealand’s electronic recycling capacity has today been launched in the upper North Island.

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.

Environment Minister Amy Adams today announced the appointment of a new member to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Board.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Nicola Crauford to the EPA Board.  She will bring considerable expertise to the collective skills of the Board,” Ms Adams says.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has welcomed New Zealand’s signing of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions of mercury and mercury compounds.

“The Minamata Convention is an important milestone in the control of mercury in the environment,” Ms Adams says.

Environment Minister and Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Amy Adams has today congratulated Environment Canterbury commissioners for adopting a programme that will help ensure the recovery of Canterbury’s natural environment.

Ms Adams has recently been given responsibility in relation to the Natural Environment Recovery Programme by Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Environment Minister Amy Adams says targeted technical consultation on draft guidelines for managing the environmental effects of oil and gas development activities, including hydraulic fracturing, is now underway.

Comment on the draft guidelines is being sought from specific groups including the Environmental Defence Society, Greenpeace, Fish and Game, Forest and Bird, iwi, local councils, Straterra and the Petroleum Extraction and Production Association of New Zealand.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced the members of an independent Board of Inquiry to consider the Ruakura Development Plan Change Request.

Last month, Ms Adams referred the request to a Board of Inquiry, following the Environmental Protection Authority’s recommendation that the plan change is part of a proposal of national significance.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced the accreditation of a product stewardship scheme which turns nappies and sanitary waste into compost.

Using purpose-built plants, the Kimberly Clark Envirocomp product stewardship scheme breaks down nappies and sanitary waste into a safe, odourless compost, instead of sending them to landfill.

By February 2015, the scheme aims to process three million nappies per year.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today launched a competition for Enviroschools that aims to raise awareness among school students and their communities of the need to recycle unwanted televisions.

The Enviroschools Challenge is a joint initiative organised by the Ministry for the Environment and the Enviroschools Foundation, as part of the TV TakeBack programme.

When students take an unwanted television to a participating drop-off site, they can nominate an Enviroschool of their choice.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced three new appointments and two reappointments to the Waste Advisory Board.

The Waste Advisory Board provides independent advice to the Minister for the Environment on matters relating to the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and waste minimisation.

“I am pleased to appoint Cynthia Bowers, Tina Porou and Dr Trevor Stuthridge to the Waste Advisory Board.

Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced that the Ruakura Development Plan Change request will be directed to an independent Board of Inquiry.

Tainui Group Holdings Limited and Chedworth Properties Limited have requested the plan change in relation to the operative Hamilton City District Plan: Waikato Section.

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).