1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose of this document
The Ministry for the Environment (the Ministry) released the discussion paper Improving Regulation of Environmental Effects in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone for public consultation on 1 August 2007. The paper proposed establishing new legislation to fill key gaps in the environmental regulation of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and promoted a consistent approach to environmental management across different statutes. The focus of the proposals was on the effects of activities not covered by existing statutes.
This document provides a summary of the submissions received in response to the discussion paper.
1.2 Consultation
Public consultation on the discussion paper was held from 1 August to 30 September 2007. An electronic copy of the paper was placed on the Ministry’s website and hard copies were sent to iwi and key stakeholders (i.e., people and organisations likely to be directly affected or interested in the proposals set out in the paper). (For a list of the recipients, see Appendix 1.) In addition, notices announcing the consultation were placed on the Ministry’s website, and advertisements were placed in nine major daily newspapers. (For the list of newspapers containing notifications, see Appendix 2.)
During August and September 2007 the Ministry held five meetings with key stakeholder groups and with iwi. The purpose of these meetings was for those attending to discuss particular issues in the discussion paper that affected their area of interest or work. The key stakeholder groups for the meetings were the:
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minerals, petroleum and telecommunications industries
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science, research and academic communities
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fishing industry
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environmental non-government organisations.
The Manager of the Natural Resources Policy Team at the Ministry also presented the proposals to regional council representatives at a resource managers meeting in September. A final consultation workshop was held in late September, to which participants from all the previous meetings were invited. The purpose of this final meeting was to provide attendees with the opportunity to hear what others had to say. (See Appendix 3 for a full list of meetings and attendees.)
Consultation on the discussion paper closed on 30 September 2007. The Ministry received 46 submissions. (See Appendix 4 for the full list of submitters.) This summary of submissions document has been provided to all submitters. The document is available from the Ministry’s website (www.mfe.govt.nz).
