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Working Towards a Comprehensive Policy Framework for Managing Contaminated Land in New Zealand: Report on Submissions

Executive summary

1 Introduction

2 Overview of submissions

3 Key elements and work priorities

4 National environmental standards

5 Roles and responsibilities

6 Guidance

7 Liability

8 Accreditation

9 Capability

10 National information

11 Additional research areas

12 Additional opportunities

13 Workshop overview

Appendix A: Index of submitters

Abbreviations

References

5 Roles and responsibilities

Submitters considered that awareness of new responsibilities placed on councils is highly variable. Reasons suggested for this included lack of clarity and strength in the recent RMA amendments to sections 30 and 31, combined with a lack of resources and expertise within councils.

Responses to how well the main agencies work together were mixed, with some considering that working relationships are good, while others suggested they were variable or poor. However, most considered that the main barriers to establishing good working relationships were the large number of agencies involved, combined with a lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities. Most also agreed that the main way to improve how agencies work together is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the various agencies and describe how they should be working together.

Awareness of responsibilities

Just over half of submitters (56%) responded to this discussion point. Submitters considered that awareness of new responsibilities placed on councils was highly variable. It was generally considered that regional councils were most aware, while awareness among district and city councils ranged from very high to little or none. It was suggested that awareness among district and city councils was highest in more populated urban councils and lower within remote rural councils.

Recent amendments to the RMA were considered by some to have improved the level of awareness.

Although many councils were considered to be aware of their functions, some submitters noted that many were choosing not to act on them. Reasons for this failure to act included:

• unclear roles and responsibilities - sections 30 and 31 functions in the RMA are considered unclear and open to a wide degree of interpretation

• sections 30 and 31 functions in the RMA are not strong enough to compel councils to undertake these functions

• an underlying lack of resources and expertise within councils

• low priority given to contaminated land relative to other functions and duties.

Many submitters highlighted the effects of the variable awareness and uptake of new responsibilities, which were seen to include:

• confusion about agency roles and responsibilities

• an inconsistent approach to contaminated land management

• uncertainty in the community as to consent requirements, classification and clean-up criteria

• competitive disadvantages to industry in regions that have adopted a conservative approach.

Table 9: Perception of local authority awareness of responsibilities, by submitter ID

Working relationships between agencies

Thirty-seven submitters (60%) responded to this discussion point, and responses were mixed. Eight submitters reported effective working relationships between regional councils and district and city councils, but these good relationships were only reported in certain situations (eg, with high-profile sites) or between specific organisations (eg, regional councils and the Ministry). The Regional Waste Officers Forum was highlighted as an effective forum for regional council communication, experience and information sharing. However, it was noted that there was no parallel forum for district and city councils.

Six submitters thought the main agencies worked together poorly, identifying examples of poor relationships contributing to:

• duplicating or overlap in functions and effort

• significant variation in regulatory controls, report assessment and information management within regions

• applying insufficient resources and expertise.

Most submitters were agreed on the barriers to establishing good working relationships.

The main barriers identified were:

• the large number of agencies involved

• no clear lead agency

• lack of clarity on agency roles and responsibilities.

Table 10: Perceptions on the working relationships between agencies, by submitter ID

Improving how the main agencies work together

Thirty-six (58%) submitters responded to this discussion point, suggesting initiatives to improve the way the main agencies (central government, regional councils, district and city councils and health agencies) work together.

Most submitters (27) agreed that the best way to improve how the relevant agencies work together is by further clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the various agencies, and describing how they should be working together. Most (20) agreed that this could be achieved by developing a roles and responsibilities protocol (guidance), as proposed in the discussion document. Others (9) considered that legislative (RMA) or regulatory (standards) amendment would be more effective than guidance. These submitters contended that guidelines were not strong enough, and that adoption would continue to be patchy without the force of regulation. A common suggestion for legislative amendment was to change the sections 30 and 31 contaminated land function to duty.

A range of other measures were suggested by submitters to improve how the main agencies work together, including:

• increasing the training given to practitioners on contaminated land management (7)

• increasing funding and resources for local government (4)

• increasing central agency involvement and leadership on the ground (3)

• a regional and national forum to guide policy making and facilitate the sharing of expertise and resources between agencies (3)

• a national advisory/stakeholder group between central government, council, land conveyers and financiers (2).

Table 11: Suggestions for improving the way agencies work together, by submitter ID

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