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Hazardous substances

New regulations for the sale of fireworks

The rise in serious fireworks related incidents of damage to people, pets and property has been alarming. In response, the Minister for the Environment called for an investigation into the sale of retail fireworks and solutions on how to prevent the misuse of fireworks. Ministry for the Environment officials, with the Environment Risk Management Authority (ERMA), developed new regulatory amendments for the retail sale of fireworks. These were approved by Cabinet on 18 December 2006.

The aim of these amendments is to significantly reduce the damage caused by the misuse of fireworks during the lead up to and during Guy Fawkes night. From 2007, the fireworks sale period will be limited to three days prior to Guy Fawkes and the legal age of purchase will be raised to 18 years. The destructive use of sparklers in the form of a ‘sparkler bomb’ is addressed by sparklers no longer being sold separately but only in larger assorted retail fireworks packs. ERMA will investigate the construction of the louder and more explosive fireworks on sale in New Zealand in order to eliminate retail sales of fireworks that are too loud or are unsafe.

More information

Cabinet paper: Regulatory options to reduce the negative impact of fireworks

“Hazardous substance” is the legal term for substances regulated by New Zealand’s Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act) which came into effect for hazardous substances on 2 July 2001.

A hazardous substance is a defined mixture of elements or compounds either naturally occurring or produced synthetically. Such substances can readily explode, burn, oxidise (accelerate the combustion of other material) or corrode (metals or biological tissue), and/or be toxic to people and ecosystems (for more information, see see Hazardous properties).

The Act and regulations control the import, manufacture or use (including disposal) manufactured chemicals that have hazardous properties.

The Act and regulations control the import, manufacture or use (including disposal) of hazardous substances.

The Act was widely regarded as innovative when it first came in to force. However, in some areas it has not been working as well as it should. In July last year the Government announced a strategy for improving the way the Act operates. That strategy is currently being implemented.

One of the changes proposed in the current amendment bill will change the definition of "substance" to include manufactured articles that have hazardous properties. The effect of this will be to bring some hazardous wastes within the ambit of HSNO. While some hazardous wastes are currently not controlled at all, others (for example, used oil), dioxins and CFC (chlorofluorocarbons) are controlled in other ways.

Places that manufacture or store hazardous substances are controlled under both the HSNO and Resource Management Acts. The hazardous facilities screening procedure is one means for local authorities to assess the impact of these activities. Other implications on the Resource Management Act and planning processes are explored in Acting Together: HSNO and the RMA. The training manual Acting together - Links between the HSNO Act and the RMA is also available for guiding practitioners through these links.

Roles and responsibilities

The HSNO Act is administered by the Ministry for the Environment but is implemented by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) and enforced by various agencies. In particular, ERMA plays the key role in deciding controls on hazardous substances. For more information on responsibilities visit the ERMA website.

Other areas of work for the Ministry that deal with hazardous substances are:

New Legislation for HSNO

The passing of the HSNO Amendment Bill brought in a package of changes to the HSNO Act that allows substances to be considered by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) in groups rather than individually. It also delivers a number of improvements to the Act that make it easier to operate. This will allow ERMA to keep up with the demand for thousands of assessments and to strike their priority according to their assessment of the risk. They will be able to complete the transfer of thousands of existing individual hazardous substances to controls under the HSNO Act by the legislative transfer deadline of 30 June 2006. They will do this through consultation and decisions on over 150 new Group Standards.

The amendments enhance the protection of the environment and the health and safety of people and communities. The Group Standards will enable HSNO controls to be applied not only to the many currently uncontrolled notified toxic substances, but also hazardous wastes.

More information

Media release from the Environment Minister:

Passing of HSNO amendments heralds important changes for industry

Last updated: 7 January 2008