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Environment Minister explains main aspects of RMA reform Phase 1

To begin reforming the RMA within 100 days of taking office, on 19 February the Government introduced the Resource Management Act (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill.

The Bill was drafted following input from local government and other stakeholders. The Minister for the Environment, Dr Nick Smith, appointed a Technical Advisory Group in December to help evaluate options for reform. The Ministry for the Environment’s senior officials have advised the options and the form of the Bill.

Dr Smith has emphasised that the RMA will remain the principal statute for managing the sustainable use of New Zealand’s natural and physical resources.

“There are no changes to the purpose or principles of the RMA proposed – I believe they are sound. There are no changes to section 8 of the Act affecting Māori involvement,” Dr Smith confirmed.

“It will provide stronger tools for managing anti-competitive behaviours, new consent pathways, and it rationalises decision-making and existing consent categories.

“The Government is confident that these amendments will have a significant impact on the processes under the Act which have led to delay, uncertainty, frustration and avoidable costs,” Dr Smith said.

The Environment Minister said the Bill introduces much needed streamlining of decision making processes under the RMA.

“There are real problems with how long it takes to get major infrastructure projects through the consenting process, particularly if they go through a local consent process and also, inevitably, end up in the Environment Court.”

This Bill creates a single board of inquiry process, but with the new capacity for local authorities to nominate board members.

To ensure timely decisions, there is a nine-month deadline from the date of notification. The independent boards will be chaired by a current or retired Environment Court judge.

The Government has also extended the definition of what is a project of national significance, to recognise the importance of national infrastructure networks.

An Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is being created to enable the direct application of such projects to a national body that will also be responsible for servicing boards of inquiry.

As a transitional measure, the EPA will be established as a statutory office within the Ministry for the Environment.  Phase Two of the RMA reform will look at the broader functions of the EPA.

Another important change to the Act will allow resource consent applications and notices of requirement to be directly referred to the Environment Court with the local authority's agreement. 

The Bill also enables a national policy statement to direct that a local authority must change the objectives and policies of its policy statements and plans without the need for further local planning processes. It will also limit appeals on such changes to plans and regional policy statements to points of law only.  National environmental standards will be referred to in plans without further process.

The proposals reinstate the powers of the Environment Court to award security for costs. In addition, the Environment Court will have a specific power to review a consent if an offender breaches its conditions.

Dr Smith said he is pleased this Bill will remove the Crown's immunity from prosecution under the Act for consent breaches by its agencies, saying that it makes significant improvements to the enforcement provisions of the RMA.

It will increase maximum penalties from $200,000 to $600,000 for corporate offenders and to $300,000 for private individuals.

“Fine levels have not been adjusted since the Act was introduced, and current levels do not send a strong enough message about the seriousness of some environmental offending.”

The Bill has provision to streamline district and regional plan making and alteration processes.

The Minister said the current system of two submissions rounds, summarising submissions, making decisions on each submission and then ensuring each submitter has an individual response to their submissions is overly complicated, especially when councils can receive more than 30,000 submissions on a plan.

The Bill limits the requirement to seek further submissions on a plan (including a plan change), removes the double submission process and the ability for appellants to make general challenges, or seek the withdrawal of entire proposed policy statements and plans.

“This will stop unfocused and unhelpful appeals which have tied some councils up for years, and imposed costs on others who stood to benefit from a new plan.”

The other key reform proposed in the Bill is to limit appeals on policy statements, plans, plan changes or variations.  Appellants will still have the ability to seek the leave of the Environment Court for it to hear the merits of an appeal. 

The Bill also proposes to remove the requirement for territorial authorities to review their plans every 10 years.  It allows a council to review the plan as and when required.  "Councils are best placed to know when plan provisions have become outdated," the Minister said. 

The Bill addresses redress for delays. Councils must have a complaints process and, where the local authority is at fault, the applicant will receive a discount on the application processing fees and charges.

“It is simply not good enough that statutory timelines are being breached in nearly half of all resource consent applications,” Dr Smith said. “I want councils to work harder to meet the timelines in the Act and for the public to have greater recourse when consents are processed late.”

The Bill is before the Local Government and Environment Committee with instructions to report to the House on or before 19 June 2009.

The Local Government and Environment Select Committee has called for submissions on the Bill.

“This is an important package of reforms for New Zealanders, and the success of the amendments depends on getting the details right. I encourage everyone with an interest in this Bill to get involved in this legislative process,” Dr Smith says.

For more information see
www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/central/amendments/index.html

The Resource Management Act (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill aims to improve the workability of resource consents and compliance with the rules set out in district plans.

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