New Zealand

From SEA.unu.edu/wiki

The | Website on the New Zealand Resource Management Act is the prime site for information on SEA in New Zealand. Addition information is given below.

J.M. Leggett (updated by Riki Therivel)

Contents 1 Regulations and guidelines 2 Stages 3 Evaluation 4 Further reading

Regulations and guidelines

In New Zealand (NZ), the processes of environmental planning have been operating in their present form since 1991, when a major legislative reform created the Resource Management Act (RMA). This act reworked over 20 statutes and 50 regulations, laws and guidance to promote a sustainable development focused direction for the country's developments with the aim of: "managing the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate which enables people and communities to provide for their social well being and for their health and safety". This act provides policy and guidelines to achieve the NZ government's environmental priorities, directions and goals expressed in its 1995 "environment 2010 strategy" which "aims to identify a common vision for the environment and to bring a consistency of approach to the work programmes of the various central government agencies involved in policies that affect the environment".

Unlike many other SEA programmes in other countries, the NZ approach is gained by their 'environment first' values. Environmental assessment (EA) is included in most development applications as a standard part of the process and as such, formal SEA has only rarely been used in NZ (Sadler & Verheem 1996). Therefore for the purposes of this assessment, it has been difficult to use examples and assess the effects, development and characteristics of SEA in this country.

Guidance on how the RMA shold be applied is set out in the Guide to Using Section 32 of the Resource Management Act, published in summer 2000. The guidance was written in part in response to limitations in how individual local authorities were applying the requirements of the RMA, published in 2000 in Proposed Plan Submission Analysis.

Stages

Screening

Essentially all development requires an application in a similar form to the UK's planning applications, which must have an EA attached. Mainly due to NZ's environment-first view, these applications are called "Resource consents", which are split into 5 broad categories:

   * Land use consents
   * Subdivision consent
   * Water permit
   * Discharge permit
   * Coastal permit

If a proposal deals with any of these, it will need a resource consent from the district or regional council. The only time a resource consent is not required is when a regional or district (similar to UK local and structure plans) specifically permits that activity. Due to the individual nature of these regions it is possible that permitted development for a particular resource use can be allowed in one area but not in another.

A resource consent requires a demonstration of exactly what is to be done; and that consideration relates to what the activity may do to surrounding parties and to the environment. Part of this responsible and environmental common sense ideal is that as part of the process for gaining a resource consent, the Act provides particularly for anyone directly affected by proposed activity to voice their concerns and participate in the decision.

SEA requirements

Resource consents are applicable to all policies, plans and applications and so this total integration of EA negates the need for formal SEA. This does not mean that environmental impacts can be ignored, rather that they are naturally assumed as part of any application process, a proactive response to development and the environment opposed to the strict reactive process in the UK. Many of the requirements are individual to the local authority regions that divide the country, however these reflect the purposes of the act, as they are interpretations of this.

The main purpose of the Resource Management Act (Section 5) are as follows:

" (1) The purpose of this act is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.

(2) In this act "sustainable management" means managing the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural well being and for their health and safety while-

(a) Sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations; and

(b) Safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems; and

(c) Avoiding, remedying or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the environment."

Section 32 of the Resource Management Act relates directly back to the purpose of the act, and must always be considered in the context of its' purpose. Taken from Ministry for the environment 'A Guide to the RMA'.

The SEA process

Due to the integrated nature of all forms of EA the responsibility of carrying out SEA is automatically carried out by the developer producing an AEE following the local authority guidelines. Councils produce plans and or policy statements that provide for sustainable management of their regions' natural and physical resources and contain regulations that effect what can be done with resource use. However this is for guidance and final decisions only. The remit of the RMA in handing down responsibility means that this must extend to individuals and not stop at council authority, they are just the means and vehicles to provide guidance, assistance and only when necessary, enforcement.

"The environment is looked at as a whole when authorities are planning and making decisions. The focus is on the effects proposed activities will have on the environment not as it was in the past, when the focus was on whether an activity was or was not allowed". (MfE Guide to the Resource Management Act)

This statement is summarises the ideal that to the greatest extent possible, choices for use, development and protection of the environment (or natural and physical resources) should be made on their own account. This must be done with the purpose of the act in mind, to promote sustainable management. Planners and decision makers should minimise adverse effects so sustainability of resources is not endangered. This is stated in the NZ Ministry for the Environment (MfE) guide to the RMA, which states:

"The job of environmental protection is not left entirely to specialist agencies acting on behalf of a passive community. It attempts to provide obligations for enforcement and also opportunities for people to take direct action themselves. It is in the process of formulating these plans and policies that members of the community have the opportunity to have their say about what they want to happen in their area".

In this way, both the applicant and council produce SEA together, without the need for formal report production.

Decision-making

The decisions are made by local authorities. The principle of the RMA is to hand out responsibility effects to those who may be affected, and thus are in the best position to make decisions on it. This devolution of authority to the appropriate level is split into two levels, which again is divided by about 12 regional councils and about 70 district or city councils over the entire country. The larger regional councils are responsible for issues and developments such as:

   * Removal, use, damming and diversion of surface, ground and geothermal water
   * Maintaining and enhancing water quality and quantity
   * Contaminant discharge to land, air or water
   * Effects on the coastal and marine regions
   * Land use for soil conservation

District and city councils are responsible for:

   * The effects of land uses
   * Subdivision
   * Noise pollution
   * Effects on lakes and rivers.

Evaluation

As the integrated EA and SEA are part of the planning application system, the enforcement of environmental protection is usually automatically obliged before any changes occur. However, the principles and guidance provided by the RMA are not wholly unsupported. Continuing the theme of devolving decision making from central government to local, to individuals allows for several legal process to be used by those who may oppose or object to actions that may affect them. These include:

• Abatement notices: These are served notices on anyone who may be affecting the environment if the action is noxious, dangerous, offensive or adversely affecting the environment and can be applied even if there is previously granted resource consent in place.
• Enforcement Orders: On a local level, an individual may lodge a complaint against an action by applying for an enforcement order. By applying for these, a person can highlight an action that contravenes the RMA in court, but the burden of proof is with the applicant, not those responsible for the activity. Usually these are used for more serious matters than those dealt with by abatement notices.

There are other methods in which enforcement can be carried out, including excessive noise directions and infringement offences (where fines can make people aware of their detrimental impacts on the environment). Any contravention of guidelines set by the RMA are considered as an offence with very little scope to consider mitigating circumstances and with prosecution penalties that can range from imprisonment to fines of up to $200,000 and a further $10,000 per day for continuing offences ($NZ). Court charges and costs can be added to this and well as the obligation to provide remedial efforts for the offence. It is also considered that (particularly due to NZ's high primary regard for the environment) offences carry a high additional cost for businesses that do not have sound environmental history. As customers are increasing making purchasing decisions on green values and that due to the NZ society, this is an effective deterrent in itself.

As New Zealand has no formal SEA, it is hard to evaluate any effectiveness of a system. However, with description of the planning and resource consent methodology applied to the country, it is clear that within that structure, a form of SEA does occur, even if it is not as formal as the UK's. NZ has a very 'environment first' attitude to development and changes in its regions are guided by a central policy in the RMA. This guidance is part of a trickle-down process of putting the decisions for development at the areas where it happens and to be decided by those affected. The principles of sustainable management and development are core to this ideal and largely appear in direction of the policy guidance.

It is possible that this encouragement of self-management could lead to omissions and neglect of environmental responsibilities, but with both the NZ social attitudes and serious legal consideration of accountability and punishment, the integrated SEA appears to work very well. It may well be less effective if applied, say to the UK where stricter production of regulations and monitoring are required to ensure action. The environmental control that is produced by the NZ system has benefits over the UK as it applies to entire regions rather than smaller, piecemeal or ad hoc designates of area for SEA. Due to the integration of SEA, the NZ systems could be said to be proactive rather than reactive, however this is still based on the 12 regional divisions of the country, not natural systems. It is possible therefore that interactions could be missed, which perhaps could be resolved by a countrywide SEA to ensure total awareness and present the RMA's objectives.

Further reading

Fookes, T. & Schijf, B. 1997, Reflections on EIA within the New Zealand Resource Management Act.

Ministry for the Environment. 1997, A Monitoring Framework Under Section 24: The effect and Implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991. MFE Publication, Wellington.

Sadler & Verheem 1996 Strategic environmental assessment: status, challenges and future directions. From Glasson, J., Therivel, R. & Chadwick, A. 1994, Introduction to environmental impact assessment. UCL Press, London.

Young-Cooper, A., Cowper, I., Mackey, R. & McDermott, P. 1993, Section 32: A guide to good practice. MfE Publication, Wellington.

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/about/index.htm The New Zealand's' Ministry for the Environment website which provides much guidance on all aspects of the RMA, environmental assessment and related issues for both councils and individuals. Also has several downloadable documents including key papers listed below with their own descriptions:

• Auditing Assessments of Environmental Effects-March 1999 The Resource Management Act requires each resource consent application to be accompanied by an assessment of environmental effects. Councils need this information to make informed decisions on granting resource consent and setting conditions to control potential effects. This guide outlines good practice for regional and district councils in auditing assessments of environmental effects.
• Your Guide to the Resource Management Act (Draft)-January 1999- A basic knowledge of the Resource Management Act is vital for people whose business or private activities involve natural resources such as water or land, who wish to protect the wider environment, or who want to get involved in the decisions that affect their community. This guide presents a simple explanation of the legislation, the processes it has established, and how people can use it to pursue their interests.
• A Guide to Preparing a Basic AEE-March 1999 An assessment of environmental effects must accompany each application for a resource consent under the Resource Management Act. It sets out the effects the proposed activity is likely to have on the environment and identifies how any negative effects can be avoided or reduced. This guide is intended to help applicants understand the process and prepare a simple assessment of environmental effects.