Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Viktor Koksharov chaired a meeting of the governmental presidium devoted to a number of special state programs in 2008.

The government intends to spend 341.4 million RUR on the Sverdlovsk Region Environment and Natural Resources Program, with nearly 60% to be invested in prevention of emergencies caused by mismanagement of industrial and consumption waste; some money will also be spent on providing the population with suitable quality water and on helping people who live in environmentally challenged areas rehabilitate.

The meeting participants laid special emphasis on the need to eliminate unauthorized dumps and to work on waste recycling. Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Galina Pakhalchak pointed out that extra investments were needed in order to complete the construction of a waste-recycling plant in the vicinity of Pervouralsk.