Report of the Ministry for the Environment for the year ended 30 June 2005

1 Overview

2 Statement of Service Performance for the Year Ended 30 June 2005

3 Financial Statements for the Ministry for the Environment

4 Non-Departmental Schedules

5 Environmental Report

6 Management of the Ministry

7 Contact Information

1 Overview

Chief Executive's overview

Statement of Objectives

Minister's Priorities for 2004/2005

The Year in Review

Chief Executive's overview

The Ministry marked the end of the 2004/05 financial year with a move to Environment House, a new building in Kate Sheppard Place. After nearly 20 years in possibly the most invisible building in Wellington's central business district, the Ministry enjoys being close to Parliament and other departments, and having all head office staff under one roof. We know that the many people and organisations we meet with during the year will also appreciate being able to find us easily and will enjoy using our improved meeting room facilities.

By getting involved with the building before work began, we have had all aspects of sustainability that were practical and economic incorporated into the design and fit-out. One feature we have brought from our previous home is the emphasis on reducing waste, with recycling facilities provided on each floor.

Buildings were also the focus of attention at one of our high-profile events during the year - the launch of the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol by HRH the Prince of Wales. Since 86% of New Zealand's population lives in urban areas, our quality of life is closely linked with the quality of our urban environment. A commitment to improving the quality of our built environment has now been made by 93 departments, councils and other organisations.

Amending environmental legislation was also a key theme of the year. Following the announcement in September 2004 of government proposals to improve the Resource Management Act and the way it operates in practice, the Ministry turned its attention to developing an amendment bill. The bill was passed by Parliament in August 2005. Implementation of some proposals did not require legislative change, including developing a programme of proposed national policy statements and national environmental standards. New Zealand's first national environmental standards, which ban activities that release dioxins and other toxins, came into effect in October 2004.

Parliament also considered amendments to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO Act). These are intended to simplify the transfer of about 70,000 notified toxic substances to the control of the HSNO Act by June 2006. The amendment bill completed the process of Select Committee consideration and was well received as reducing the cost of complying with the Act without compromising public safety and the environment. However, it was not passed in the last term of Parliament and remains on our work programme.

This year we made some changes to the structure of the Ministry, establishing both an Urban group and a Reporting and Review group. These new groups help us focus on two increasingly important areas of our activities - the urban and sustainable cities programmes, and reporting nationally and internationally on environmental matters.

Overall, the year under review has been both busy and successful for the Ministry for the Environment.

Barry Carbon
Chief Executive

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Statement of Objectives

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Minister's Priorities for 2004/2005

The Government's goal for the environment is to "treasure and nurture our environment with protection for ecosystems so that New Zealand maintains a clean, green environment and builds our reputation as a world leader in environmental issues".

The priority environmental issues for the Minister in 2004/05 were:

• the Resource Management Act review
• the Making Good Decisions Programme
• national environmental standards
• freshwater initiatives, including:
  • the Sustainable Water Programme of Action
  • water quality in Lake Taupo and the Rotorua lakes
  • water allocation in the Waitaki catchment
• aquaculture reform
• the Talk Environment Roadshow
• organisation and facilitation of the Chief Executives' Environment Forum
• establishing a unique marine management regime for the Fiordland area
• sustainable industry
• climate change
• Marine Environment Classification
• the launch of the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol
• the Year of the Built Environment 2005.

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The Year in Review

Priority issues

Resource Management Act (RMA) review

The RMA review, comprising of the Resource Management and Electricity Amendment Bill and associated practice improvements, represents the biggest 'tune-up' of the RMA since 1991.

In May 2004, the Government announced a review of the RMA, focusing on ways to improve the quality of decisions and processes whilst not compromising good environmental outcomes or public participation.

The changes to the RMA are the result of dialogue with local government, industry, environmental organisations and the wider community over an 18-month period. The review of the RMA was a Ministerial-led process that worked across government to ensure all views were represented, and local government were involved throughout the process.

The introduction of an amendment bill in December 2004 was followed by a select committee process. The amendments to the RMA are part of a wider package of changes designed to meet the following goals of the review:

• getting better and faster decisions on resource consents
• providing a means of working with councils when decisions are too big for local decision-making
• more national leadership, especially through national policy statements and standards.

Making Good Decisions Programme

The "Making Good Decisions Programme" was introduced in October 2004. It is a training, assessment and certification programme which provides RMA decision-makers with the skills and knowledge to run fair and effective notified resource consent hearings. It is targeted at local authority councillors and independent (private sector) commissioners, but is also available to anyone aspiring to be a resource management commissioner. The programme was developed in partnership with Local Government New Zealand.

Five hundred and sixty-five people registered for the first round of the programme and a total of 21 workshops were held in 14 locations around the country. After the assessment process was completed in July 2005, certificates were issued to 547 people. This certification process will be formally recognised through statutory accreditation under the latest amendments to the RMA.

Feedback from participants and councils show there is wide support for the programme. The programme will be run on an ongoing basis, with compulsory update seminars for all successful certificate holders and new rounds for other people wanting to be accredited RMA decision-makers. The effectiveness of the programme will be continually monitored. Evaluation of resource consent hearings shows that there have been notable improvements in hearings practice since the introduction of the programme. The programme will be updated and modified as necessary to address changes in legislation and practice.

National environmental standards

The Ministry introduced 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 introduced including:

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

Since the introduction of the standards the Ministry has provided $800,000 to fund the purchase of new air quality monitors to help regional councils measure fine particle emissions in their airsheds accurately.

In addition, in response to concerns raised by local government, the Ministry made a number of amendments to the standards to provide councils with more flexibility in how they meet and implement the standards.

Freshwater initiatives

Sustainable Water Programme of Action

The purpose of this programme is to determine the national, regional and local interest in freshwater and to develop management options that will be both sustainable and fair.

During the year the Ministry led the development of a comprehensive discussion document on the current management of freshwater and potential directions for change. The discussion document was widely distributed to form the basis of an 'in depth' and comprehensive consultation process with local government, Maori and other key stakeholders throughout the country.

Collection and analysis of extensive stakeholder submissions was completed and summary reports were prepared and published for further feedback and continued stakeholder discussions. In addition, those areas identified as current 'gaps' in our knowledge and understanding by the consultation process are now the subject of investigations to develop robust and effective options.

Lakes

The Ministry worked effectively with our partners to establish the Lake Taupo Water Quality Programme. This programme is investigating new ways of managing excess nutrients from diffuse sources. Environment Waikato has publicly notified land use rules which cap nitrogen emissions in the catchment and the programme is taking shape.

We have supported several initiatives in the Rotorua lakes catchments, including: short term measures to address Lake Rotoiti's declining water quality; land user initiatives through the Sustainable Management Fund; and support for a successful science funding bid to better understand the effects of nutrient run-off on algal blooms so solutions can be developed.

Waitaki

In September 2003 the Government announced that it would develop 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 this process. The process is contained in the Resource Management (Waitaki Catchment) Amendment Act 2004.

During the year a project team was based in Christchurch and Timaru providing significant logistical and technical support to the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Board. The Board is an independent body set up by the Government and charged with developing a water allocation plan, to be operational by 30 September 2005. The plan will ensure the best decisions are made about water use in the river and its catchment.

A draft plan was prepared and circulated for public consultation in February 2005. Submissions were called for and a public hearing commenced in June 2005 and continued throughout the 2004/05 year (over 300 submitters were heard).

Aquaculture reform

The Aquaculture Reform Act was passed in December 2004. Subsequent focus has been on implementation of the reforms and the Ministry for the Environment has continued to coordinate the overall implementation project. A stocktake and needs analysis of councils has been completed and will help guide future implementation activities. The Ministry continues to chair the steering group and provides overall coordination of the implementation work in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries.

Talk Environment Roadshow

The Talk Environment Roadshow is a valuable exercise for the Ministry. It allows us to: communicate the current direction of the Ministry to our stakeholders and the wider public; present and seek feedback on key aspects of our work programmes; and gain support for our wider work programmes. It is also an important networking event for local government, industry and the community and an opportunity for local environmental issues to be raised with the Ministry.

In November 2004, 1,350 people from industry, local government and the community attended a series of meetings held across New Zealand as part of the Talk Environment Roadshow. The Roadshow visited 16 different locations around the country and covered a wide range of topics.

The Resource Management Act was of particular interest and the Roadshow provided our stakeholders with a valuable opportunity to gain a better understanding of the RMA review.

Chief Executives' Environment Forum (CEEF)

CEEF functions as a two-way mechanism to coordinate policy, share information, raise awareness and agree on a direction for environmental issues at a local and central government level.

CEEF had three successful meetings in the 2004/05 financial year, with attendees agreeing that the forum has proven to be very useful and should to be held quarterly next financial year. Agenda items covered areas such as sustainable agriculture, biosecurity, transport, energy and science funding.

CEEF is seen as an important part of business for all the agencies involved and the agenda is increasingly full and varied. Opportunities to advance agenda items between meetings are being developed.

CEEF is an excellent example of how we can work with key stakeholders to influence environmental outcomes.

Fiordland strategy

The Fiordland (Te Moana Atawhenua) Marine Management Act was passed in April 2005 establishing a unique management regime for the Fiordland area. The Ministry led the development of the Act and is coordinating its implementation, along with the development and implementation of other work programmes to give effect to the Fiordland strategy. Funding for these programmes (monitoring, compliance and enforcement, education and information, and biosecurity) was secured as new initiatives in this year's budget for the next four years. Following that the funding will be base-lined at the year four levels. The Fiordland Marine Guardians, a key part of the new management regime, were appointed in July 2005.

Sustainable industry

The Ministry's sustainable industry function had a successful year which resulted in the delivery of major programmes of work. The success of sustainable industry's work with industry and organisations was reinforced by the Government committing $12.4 million over the next four years to the Ministry to promote environmental gains through sustainable business practices.

The Ministry has delivered on the following sustainable industry work programmes:

• A dynamic partnership with the Ministry of Tourism has been developed. This has resulted in the Northland Sustainable Tourism Project expanding to five additional regions: Rotorua; Bay of Plenty; Nelson/Tasman; Wanaka; and Southland/Fiordland.
• The New Zealand Packaging Accord has been reviewed and re-signed and now captures over 200 organisations. The Accord involves over 85% of packaging manufacturing and 80% of supermarket business, as well as local government and recyclers, setting realistic targets and reporting requirements.
• The New Zealand Packaging Accord has already proven an effective framework for joint action across the packaging lifecycle. For example, through the Accord glass recycling was rescued, with importers agreeing to a voluntary levy to help maintain a viable price for recycled glass.
• One hundred and five tonnes of orphaned agrichemicals have been collected and disposed of in conjunction with the Bay of Plenty, Northland, Hawke's Bay, Canterbury, Waikato, West Coast and Gisborne regional councils.
• The Dairying and Clean Streams Accord, which in conjunction with Fonterra and regional councils serves to improve the waterways in dairying areas, has been recognised as an excellent building block for future sustainable agriculture issues.
• The Govt³ programme, which aims to assist the government sector to operate more sustainably, has nearly doubled the number of member organisations from 24 to 47. The programme was also mandated by Cabinet who recommended that a more formal commitment from departments should be pursued.

Climate change

The key elements of progress on the implementation of the climate change policy package are as follows:

• Announcement in May 2005 of the initial rate of the carbon tax together with the release of a consultation document on its design. This is the main pillar of our policy and introduces for the first time a market price for carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Agreement in April 2005 to the implementation of an acceleration programme for Negotiated Greenhouse Agreements. These agreements are an important part of the policy as they provide carbon tax relief to the major users in return for their moving to world's best practice in energy use.
• Conclusion of a successful second tender round for the Project to Reduce Emissions programme with 6 million emission units being allocated to 25 successful tenderers.
• Agreement in August 2004 to the policy to encourage small to medium sized enterprises to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in March 2005, confirmation of additional policy to assist the most energy-intensive of these businesses.
• Coverage of 45% of the New Zealand population by councils participating in the Communities for Climate Protection programme.
• Phase 2 of the '4 million careful owners' public awareness and education campaign, undertaken from August 2004 to February 2005 to continue to build awareness of the effects of climate change and actions New Zealanders can practically take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Continuation of under-pinning science activities including ensuring New Zealand participation in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change process.

Reporting and science function

Development of New Zealand's national inventory system including the carbon monitoring/accounting system, has continued this year. Since New Zealand reported its first greenhouse gas inventory, there has been an ongoing programme of work to meet the increasingly comprehensive reporting requirements set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including requirements for reporting under the Kyoto Protocol.

The 2003 greenhouse gas inventory (completed in April 2005) included the following improvements:

• The inventory included the effect of 28 recalculations (improvements in data, emission factors or methodology, all back-calculated to 1990) across all sectors of the inventory.
• The net effect of all the recalculations was to reduce the 1990 assigned amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of greenhouse gases by 100 gigagrams CO₂ equivalent (0.2%) but also reduce the level of increase over 1990. This equates to an adjustment of 1.6 Megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO₂e).
• More comprehensive documentation was provided as part of New Zealand's submission this year to explain clearly the methodologies and approaches used to estimate emissions and removals.
• The 2003 inventory included a preliminary estimate for all of the land use categories under the new land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) reporting guidance. Previous inventories had only been able to include planted forests.
• The update of the projected balance of units during the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period (CP1) (2008-2012) is based on the latest national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and removals submitted to the UNFCCC on 15 April 2005.
• Due to ongoing concerns about the level of uncertainties in the basic assumptions, the projected emissions and removals via sinks have been revised as a result of a whole of government work programme coordinated by the Ministry.

Marine Environment Classification

The Ministry for the Environment has completed the Marine Environment Classification (MEC) - an environmental management tool which maps the marine environment within New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This tool is the third in a suite of world first environmental management tools. It follows the release of the Land Environments New Zealand (LENZ) classification and the River Environment Classification (REC). All three of these classification systems are tools for environmental management, monitoring and reporting which will enable us to see more clearly (and objectively) New Zealand's disparate land, river and marine ecosystems. By using MEC, REC or LENZ we are better able to quantify how unique the environmental or ecological characteristics are in any given location and we are better placed to make good decisions about how we use or manage New Zealand's natural resources.

Urban Design Protocol

The Ministry released a draft New Zealand Urban Design Protocol for public consultation on 5 August 2004. The draft Protocol was developed in conjunction with an Urban Design Advisory Group. Ten consultation forums were held in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin and Hamilton, in August and September 2004 to seek feedback on the draft. The final New Zealand Urban Design Protocol was approved by Cabinet in February 2005 and officially launched in Wellington on 8 March 2005 by Hon Marian Hobbs and HRH the Prince of Wales.

By 30 June 2005, the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol had 93 signatories, including 18 local government councils and 17 central government agencies, as well as professional bodies, and private sector organisations.

A range of resource materials have been developed to support the implementation of the Urban Design Protocol, including:

• The Value of Urban Design report, launched on 28 June 2005 by Hon Marian Hobbs at a joint local government and property sector event in Auckland. The report reviews international and New Zealand studies for evidence of the social, economic and environmental benefits of urban design
• Appointing an Urban Design Champion, an information sheet providing information about appointing an Urban design Champion (May 2005)
• Urban Design Case Studies, illustrating practical examples of successful urban design (March 2005)
• Urban Design Action Pack, providing ideas of actions that could form part of signatories commitments (March 2005).

The Ministry is also supporting the New Zealand Planning Institute to develop Urban Design Continuing Professional Development Workshops for architects, planners, landscape architects, engineers and surveyors. Workshops are being held throughout the country in 2005.

The Ministry is working with Wellington City Council and other government departments to develop a framework plan and implementation programme for a 'Government Precinct' in Thorndon, Wellington.

Year of the Built Environment 2005

The New Zealand Government in conjunction with a consortium of local government, industry, research and professional institutes proclaimed 2005 as the Year of the Built Environment. The Ministry is coordinating and leading a multi-partner process to run the 'Year of the Built Environment 2005' throughout 2005/06, comprising a programme of activities and events which aims to raise awareness in New Zealand about the built environment.

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