Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill

Phase Two

Phase two aims to reduce the “regulatory burden” by means of targeted amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (Bill) is one of two new bills that are being introduced.

The proposed key changes are expected to achieve the following:

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM)

• The hierarchy of obligations (known as Te Mana o Te Wai) within the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 will not need to be considered in new resource consent applications (unless the regional council has included this hierarchy in its regional plan). The NPS-FM will eventually be replaced.

Mining Activities

• Align the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023 (NPS-IB), NPS-FM, and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater 2020 with a consenting pathway for coal mining and other mining activities.

National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023

• Extend the time for councils to identify and notify new Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to 31 December 2030. The rest of the NPS-IB continues to apply and SNAs already identified are not affected.

Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020

• Modify the regulations pertaining to stock exclusion. This means the current maps are repealed and stock will be excluded from waterways in accordance with regional plans and freshwater farm plans. See our article on freshwater farm plans here: https://www.harknesshenry.co.nz/2023/06/21/freshwater-farm-plans/ see our article on the Stock Exclusions Regulations here: https://www.harknesshenry.co.nz/2020/11/16/to-fence-or-not-to-fence-the-new-stock-exclusion-regulations/
• Remove a majority of the requirements under the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater 2020 for winter grazing by 2025 (conditions to ground cover and pugging will remain).

 National Directions

• If national directions (such as national environmental standards, national planning standards, national policy statements etc) under the Resource Management Act 1991 need to be amended, that process is sought to be sped up by this Bill. The Bill speeds up the process by:
  • Removing the Board of Inquiry process;
  • Providing to the Minister the power to amend national directions;
  • Not requiring a full s32 evaluation report, but a simplified report.

What do you need to know?

The public consultation process has started, and submissions are now open.

A submission is an opportunity for you to have your say and put forward any opinions and recommendations on this matter before the select committee. The closing date for making a submission is 30 June 2024.

If you have any questions about this Bill or you are interested in making a submission, please reach out to our Resource Management team for further guidance.

This article is current as at the date of publication and is only intended to provide general comments about the law. Harkness Henry accepts no responsibility for reliance by any person or organisation on the content of the article. Please contact the author of the article if you require specific advice about how the law applies to you.