Annual Report 2003/2004

1 Overview

2 Statement of Service Performance for the Year Ended 30 June 2004

3 Financial Statements for the Ministry for the Environment

4 Financial Statements and Schedules: Non-Departmental

5 Triple Bottom Line Progress

6 Management of the Ministry

7 Contact Information

The year in review

Priority issues

National environmental standards

During the year under review, the Ministry developed the first suite of national environmental standards under the Resource Management Act (1991). These are mandatory 'bottom line' regulations that apply nationally and so bring greater certainty and consistency in resource management. The focus of this set of standards was on air quality.

Fourteen standards were developed and proposed including:

• seven standards banning activities that discharge significant quantities of dioxins and other toxics into the air
• five standards for ambient (outdoor) air quality
• a design standard for new wood burners installed in urban areas
• a requirement for landfills over one million tonnes of refuse to collect greenhouse gas emissions.

As at 30 June 2004, the standards are currently being drafted. It is hoped that they will be introduced on 1 October 2004. Alongside these, the Ministry is developing a 'Users Guide' which will provide a plain English outline of what the regulations mean and how they should be implemented.

Aquaculture reform

The Ministry for the Environment worked with the Ministry of Fisheries, Department of Conservation, Te Puni Kokiri and Treasury to develop key policy elements of the aquaculture reform. Our focus was on the general reform, in particular the development of amendments to the Resource Management Act (1991) necessary to transfer the existing aquaculture regime into the Act planning and consenting regime.

The Ministry co-convened a regional government working group to assess the effectiveness of the reforms and report back to the Minister of Fisheries (chair of the Ad Hoc Ministerial Group) on proposed changes, and met regularly with industry representatives to ensure their concerns were properly taken into account.

The three key policy adjustments from the Ministry-led process of engagement with regional councils and industry are:

• A Resource Management Act provision to allow existing marine farming consent holders who meet strict criteria to become the effective first applicant for the next consent over the site they are already farming. This provides more certainty for existing industry.
• A Resource Management Act provision to allow for a private plan change to create aquaculture management areas, where industry would have a preferential right to an agreed allocation of space within that aquaculture management area. This will provide more flexibility for industry growth and innovation.
• Deeming virtually all existing consent and permit holders to be in aquaculture management areas. This will lower compliance and planning costs to industry and councils respectively.

Water Programme of Action

The Water Programme of Action is a cross-government project coordinated by us and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It is one strand of the Government's Sustainable Development Programme of Action.

The Water Programme of Action involves examining the cultural, economic, environmental and social aspects of water bodies of national importance. The focus is on the following three areas:

• water allocation and use
• water quality
• water bodies of national importance.

Within these three areas, the following projects have been undertaken and completed:

• looking at how to manage water allocation and factors affecting water quality and how to get the best balance
• determining the national interest in water use and how to get the best results from this
• identifying the water bodies of national importance
• developing ways to get sustainable and fair results
• achieving consensus with Environment Waikato, Taupo District Council and Ngati Tuwharetoa for appropriate action on Lake Taupo's environmental issues.

A Maori Reference Group and a Stakeholder Reference Group have been established to feed into these work areas and projects. Three studies have also been commissioned and released as part of the programme.

Waitaki River and catchment

During the year, the Government developed an improved process for determining water allocation and resource consent applications for the Waitaki River and catchment. The Ministry was given the task of project managing the Waitaki process. This new process is contained in the Resource Management (Waitaki Catchment) Amendment Bill.

The Minister for the Environment has invited suggestions and expressions of interest from the public for possible members of the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Board. The process of appointing the Board will begin once the Bill is passed.

Contaminated sites - remediation

A major priority for the Ministry this year was to ensure that the clean up of the former Fruitgrowers Chemical Site near Mapua got underway. Significant progress had previously been made in assessing the level of contamination on the site and on identifying a technology solution. During May 2004 we completed discussions with Tasman District Council, agreeing a 70/30 cost sharing arrangement for the clean up. The technology underwent extensive proof of performance testing, with results proving that it can definitely do the job. Remediation of the site is expected to take up to 18 months and will start early in the 2004/05 financial year. The agreement we have reached with Tasman District Council on the remediation of this 'orphan' site sets a good precedent for future cost sharing arrangements for the remediation of orphan contaminated sites.

The Ministry investigated methods for the remediation of the orphan contaminated site at Tui Mine, Te Aroha, which would involve participation of the mining industry and local government to be part of the solution.

Climate change

The New Zealand Climate Change Office is now fully operational and part of the Ministry for the Environment. It works across government with officials from other departments.

The first Projects to Reduce Emissions tender round was successfully completed in 2003/04. Fifteen projects were granted the four million emission units available. If implemented, these projects could achieve up to 365 mega watts of additional electricity generation capacity.

The New Zealand National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report for the year 2002 was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat on 15 April 2004.

Work with our stakeholders included the development of the Communities for Climate Protection New Zealand programme which is a three year greenhouse reduction programme for local government. An Agricultural Research Memorandum of Understanding implementing an agricultural research strategy for methane and nitrous oxide gases was signed with 11 key agricultural sector participants. A Memorandum of Understanding on the management of sulphur hexafluoride was also signed with the electricity industry.

Legislative changes for new organisms - the lifting of the moratorium on the release of genetically modified organisms

The New Organisms and Other Matters (NOOM) Bill was introduced to the House in April 2003 with amendments to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (1996), Medicines, Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) and the Biosecurity Act (1993). Following the public submission period, the Ministry prepared the departmental report, supported the select committee through their considerations, and provided advice on supplementary order papers.

The Ministry also assisted the Environmental Risk Management Authority's public Roadshow (4-21 November 2003) on ramifications of the NOOM Amendments and helped develop operational procedures for conditional release and new organisms enforcement.

Changes in the Environment Court and commencement of the Resource Management Act (RMA) review

Improvements have continued to be made in the Environment Court with a number of initiatives now showing positive results. Delays with appeals have more than halved since 2001, and caseloads are now managed more effectively (see page 10 for further detail).

Hazardous Substances Strategy

A Hazardous Substances Strategy to improve the working of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (1996) was announced by the Minister on 25 June 2003. Key elements of the Hazardous Substances Strategy have now been put in place. In particular the Ministry focused on achieving the transfer of single substance dangerous goods and scheduled toxic substances from controls under previous legislation to controls under the HSNO Act by 1 April 2004. The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Transitional Provisions and Controls) Amendment Act enabled the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) to decide the transfer provisions and put them in place by Gazette notice. The Ministry also provided assistance in the drafting of the stationary container controls.

The transfer of explosives began in August 2003. To give effect to the transfer, the Ministry developed policy and provided drafting instructions for the Hazardous Substances (Fireworks, Safety Ammunition, and other Explosives Transfer) Regulations 2003. The Ministry also prepared amendments to the regulations which set controls for these explosives substances. Further amendments were provided in support of the Pesticides transfer on 1 July 2004 (by Gazette notice).

Long-term plans for compliance and enforcement were also prepared. The Ministry, together with ERMA and the Department of Labour, let a major contract to collect data on the locations and quantities of hazardous substances across New Zealand, and to identify optimal risk management strategies of achieving compliance.

Sustainable industry

The work of the newly formed Sustainable Industry Group concentrated on partnerships and action on the ground. Key areas of work included Govt³, the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord and the Packaging Accord.

The Govt³ programme was established to support government agencies to reduce waste, materials and energy consumption, to minimise environmental impacts of expenditure, and to encourage reporting on operational environmental performance. By June 2004, 20 central government departments and associated agencies were participating.

The Ministry actively participated in the implementation of the first year of the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord. This is designed to minimise the environmental impacts of dairying.

We also negotiated a Packaging Accord with the New Zealand Packaging Council, retailers/importers, packaging manufacturers, local and central government, and the Recycling Operators of New Zealand. The Packaging Accord is a partnership to reduce packaging waste and increase the amount of packaging that can be recycled.