The government has issued a motion to amend the law on supporting the cleanup of contaminated areas. The change would bring a new option for organizing the investigation and cleaning of contaminated areas.
According to the bill, Pirkanmaa's economic, transport and environmental center ELY would act as the organizer of the cleanup, and the owner of the contaminated area or another party could share the costs of the work. The changes would bring more and even more significant objects within the scope of investigation and restoration activities.
Currently, you can either get a state grant to investigate and clean up the contamination of the areas, or alternatively, Pirkanmaa ELY, acting as an authority, can organize the investigation of the contamination or cleaning of the area and cover the costs of the project. In practice, organizing means that Pirkanmaa ELY Center tenders the project.
Up until now, the conditions for getting into an organizing position have been very strict. The task of organizing the Support Act is especially important for those owners of contaminated areas who do not have the resources or their own expertise to organize the investigation or cleanup of the contamination.
The change offers an alternative to applying for state aid and aims to make it easier to get covered by the organizing task. In the future, the clearing and cleaning costs would be shared between the Pirkanmaa ELY center and the owner of the area or another cooperating party. Pirkanmaa ELY Center's share of the project's costs would be a maximum of 50 percent. The conditions for getting into the scope of the organizing task would be the same as the conditions for receiving state aid, i.e. significantly lower than in the currently valid law. The task of organizing would still remain discretionary.
In addition, Pirkanmaa's ELY center could still cover the costs of the organization entirely in certain situations. A challenging object, the investigation or cleaning of which Pirkanmaa ELY Center could have organized according to the current law, could still be arranged at the expense of Pirkanmaa ELY Center.
The aim of the proposal is to ease the conditions for entering the scope of clearing and cleaning operations. The effects of the presentation are aimed at those entities that have contaminated areas in their possession or that otherwise participate in the investigation and cleanup of their contamination.
The source is the press release of the Ministry of the Environment on November 30.11.2023, XNUMX. Cleanup of polluted areas will be promoted by amending the Support Act.
Additional information
Juha Laurila, director, economic policy, INFRA: tel. 050 412 3637, first name.surname(at)rt.fi