Fast-track Approvals Bill passed into Law

In keeping with its promise to introduce further changes to the resource management system before the end of 2024, the Government has introduced the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill (Bill).  The Bill proposes to make changes to the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) to advance key Government policies as part of stage three of its RMA reforms and is intended to go before Parliament for its first reading this week. These changes can be separated into five categories which are in keeping with the Government’s ‘packages’ that it announced in late August 2024. Infrastructure and Energy Consent Timeframes:  Renewable energy generation consents would be required to be decided within one year.  For geothermal and hydro schemes this timeframe must be extended if a request is made by the applicant or a specified group (such as treaty settlement groups, customary marine title groups and iwi authorities). Consent Durations: Consents for renewable energy and long-lived infrastructure have a default duration of 35 years, unless: the applicant requests a shorter period; a National Environmental Standard, National Policy Statement or National Planning Standard expressly provides for a shorter period; or it is required after consideration of submissions by relevant groups (such as treaty settlement groups, customary marine title groups and iwi authorities). Lapse:  Lapse periods for renewable energy projects have doubled from five years to 10 years. Designating Authorities: Requirements and costs for designating authorities are simplified by restricting when an assessment of alternatives is required and simplifying other assessments and information requirements. Port Coastal Permits: Each port company’s coastal permit will be automatically extended to 30 September 2046 (the conditions of which will also be extended automatically).  A port company’s permit must be reviewed by the relevant consenting authority no later than 30 September 2027 to identify: Any adverse environmental effects of the occupation of the coastal marine area; and Whether conditions need to be imposed or amended to avoid, remedy or mitigate those effects. Requiring Authority Status: Port companies are to be given requiring authority status for landward operations. Discharges:  Amendments to s 70 RMA are proposed to amend the scope of discharge rules to enable regional councils to include permitted activity discharge rules where performance standards will contribute to a reduction in adverse effects over time. Housing Growth Medium Density Residential Standards: Flexibility will be provided to territorial authorities to enable them to opt out of the Medium Density Residential Standards if they demonstrate that they have at least 30 years of planned housing growth capacity.  This exemption applies even if the medium density residential standards have since been incorporated into that territorial authority’s district plan.  Specified territorial authorities are no longer required to incorporate the medium density residential standards into residential zones. Minister’s Powers: The Bill provides the Minister for the Environment with new powers to ensure compliance with national direction, including housing and business development assessments.  The Minister for the Environment can direct councils to prepare or amend documents in accordance with national direction and to direct what type of plan change is used to give effect to national direction. Heritage Buildings:  The process for listing/delisting heritage buildings and structures has been simplified. Farming Fishing:  The Bill defines the interaction between the RMA and fishing activities under the Fisheries Act 1996.  The intent is to ensure that where new rules are introduced, they go through a pre-notification process with the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries, have their effects on fishing assessed, do not raise new restrictions in unexpected areas (reduced scope of submissions), do not add to the regulatory burden on fishers, and do not apply to Māori customary non-commercial fishing rights. Farm Plan: Part 9A of the RMA is amended to make farm plan certification and audit services more practical and cost effective by allowing industry organisations to deliver those services. Wood Processing: To reduce delays in consenting, the Bill requires resource consents for wood processing facilities to be decided within one year of application. Natural Hazards Plan Changes: Any plan changes introducing new natural hazard rules will have immediate legal effect. Consenting: The Bill strengthens a consenting authorities’ powers to decline a land use consent application if it considers that the activity will create a significant risk from natural hazards, increase an existing risk to become significant, or increase an existing significant risk. Emergency Response: New powers are to be given to the Governor General (on the recommendation of the Minister) to make regulations that respond to natural hazards and enable recovery efforts. System Improvements Penalties: Penalties for offences under the RMA are proposed to be changed as follows: For private individuals – maximum imprisonment decreased from two years to 18 months and maximum fine increased from $300,000 to $10,000,000. For a non-natural person (e.g. a company) the fine is increased from $600,000 to $10,000,000. Insurance: The Bill removes the ability for parties to insure against penalties and makes it unlawful. Fines are introduced for persons who enter into insurance contracts to indemnify parties for offences under the RMA (a maximum of $50,000 for an individual and $250,000 for any other person). Clarity: Changes are proposed to simplify the consenting regime by clarifying the scope of further information requests, allowing applicants to review consent conditions before a decision and enables cost recovery for consent reviews due to national direction. Conservation Act 1987: The Bill proposes changes to the Conservation Act 1987 to make technical amendments to the Department of Conservation functions to align their ability to manage discharges with the proposed changes to the RMA. Holland Beckett is experienced in providing advice to clients on the current reforms to New Zealand’s resource management system.  If you have any questions about these reforms, please feel free to contact us.

Another amendment Act, in a long line of RMA amendment Acts, came into force on 24 October 2024.  The Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024 (Act) makes the following key changes to the RMA: Freshwater The “hierarchy of obligations” in clauses 1.3(5) and 2.1 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPSFM) are no longer considerations for resource consent decisions. This applies to resource consent applications lodged before commencement if the consent authority has not, before commencement, served notice of its decision on the application. Provides that councils are not to notify “freshwater planning instruments” (giving effect to the NPSFM) before the a new NPSFM has been published or the end of 2025. This is a year later than the RMA previously required.  Exemptions from this delay can be sought in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the RMA has been amended to clarify that councils can grant resource consent for discharges that would result in significant adverse effects, provided conditions reduce effects over time. This is a direct response to the Environmental Law Initiative’s successful judicial review of a discharge permit in mid Canterbury. Freshwater / Farming The Act removes the use of low slope maps under the Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020 that restricted the grazing of beef, cattle and deer on low slope areas near water bodies. Low slope maps are to be replaced with freshwater farm plans and/or regional plans wherein Regional Councils can determine where stock grazing needs to be excluded on a case-by-case basis. Further, the Act repeals the permitted and restricted discretionary activity regulations and associated conditions for intensive winter grazing in the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-F). The Act replaces these with standalone regulations on riparian setback and critical source areas. Significant Natural Areas Local authorities have an obligation in the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPS-IB) to identify and include new significant natural areas (SNA) by 4 August 2028. These identification and incorporation requirements are suspended for three years by the Act which amends the timing provisions for when councils must publicly notify a proposed plan or plan change that gives effect to the NPS-IB.  This change seeks to provide sufficient time for Government to undertake a thorough review of how SNAs operate. Coal Mining The NPS-FM, NPS-IB and the NES-F all provide a consent pathway for mining activities in or near wetlands and SNAs, except for new coal mining activities.  The Act aligns the consenting pathway for new coal mining activities with the pathway for other mineral extractive activities across the NPS-IB, NPS-FM and the NES-F. National Direction The Act enables the Minister for the Environment to amend national direction (excluding the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement) without using the standard process where the amendment is for a range of purposes including to give effect to international obligations and to change timeframes.

On Friday 18 October 2024, the Environment Committee reported back on the Fast-track Approvals Bill which was introduced on 7 March 2024. We take a look at what’s changed, what stays the same, and the road ahead. What’s changed? The Environment Committee has recommended the following key changes. The purpose of the Bill has been re-framed as “to facilitate the delivery of infrastructure and development projects with significant regional or national benefits”. Timeframes are amended slightly to provide the Expert Panel with 10 working days (rather than five) from their appointment to issue an invitation for written comments, and to provide those invited to comment with 20 working days (rather than 10) to provide those comments. Expert Panels no longer include an iwi appointee. However Expert Panels must include at least one member who is suitably qualified in te ao Māori and Māori development. The Expert Panel (not Ministers) will make final decisions on substantive applications. When considering applications, the Expert Panel must give the “greatest weight” to the purpose of the Bill. The Expert Panel may decline an approval if it forms the view that the activity or activities for which the approval is sought would have one or more adverse impacts, and those adverse impacts are sufficiently significant to outweigh the purpose of the Bill even after any conditions that the panel may set in relation to those impacts are taken into account. The lapse provisions have been amended to allow some discretion. Lapse periods must be at least two years, and if not specified, a default lapse period of five years will apply. What’s stayed the same? The Bill is still an ‘omnibus’ bill which covers a wide range of processes, not just resource consents. A person who has applied for an approval under another Act must withdraw that application before lodging a substantive application that seeks a corresponding approval under the Bill for the same, or substantially the same, activity. The Expert Panel still has a window of 25 working days from the closing date for comments to issue its decision, which is significant given the scale and complexity of many of the projects listed (although suspensions are provided for and there is the ability to extent that timeframe). Appeal rights are available to the High Court on a point of law only. Rights of judicial review are not affected by the Bill. The road ahead The Bill still refers to Schedule 2A and 2B (with provisions for Part A listed projects and Part B listed projects), despite the Minister’s announcement on 6 October 2024 that “Because of the unprecedented level of interest in this process, it became clear that so many projects were suitable for 2A that having a separate list for Schedule 2B became unnecessary, so it will be deleted from the Bill.” Presumably this will be amended as the Bill progresses through Parliament. For listed projects, the immediate issue will be resourcing the processing of those. With 149 projects selected for listing in the Bill, it remains to be seen how many will convert into lodged applications (and how quickly). There is also a mandatory requirement to consult specified persons before lodging the substantive application with the EPA. Once applications are lodged, Experts Panels will need to be formed to process applications. Overall, the fast-track process is likely to be resource intensive for all participants. Seeking referral for fast tracking is still possible (as was the case with the COVID-19 (Fast-track) Consenting Act 2019). However, the question will be the extent to which there is capacity within the system for the processing of referral applications, and referred projects, in light of the volume of listed projects. The Bill is expected to become law before the end of the year. For any questions, please contact one of the below who all have experience with fast-track applications.