Resource management reform – a phased approach

3 February 2025

Natasha Garvan and Megan Exton

The Government is taking a phased approach to overhauling the resource management system. The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 9 December 2024 and forms part of what the Government describes as Phase 2 of that workstream. This phase encompasses targeted changes to the existing system and precedes Phase 3, which will see an entirely new Resource Management Act.

Submissions on the Bill are being accepted until 10 February 2025 and the Bill is expected to come into force mid-2025.

The Bill progresses key Government priorities and the amendments relate to five “themes” described as:

  1. infrastructure and energy;
  2. housing growth;
  3. farming and the primary sector;
  4. natural hazards and emergencies; and
  5. system improvements.

In this article we explore some of the key changes.

Resource consenting

The Government’s key priorities include making it easier to consent new infrastructure, as well as cutting red tape to “unleash investment” in renewable energy. In support of these priorities, the Bill introduces:

  1. Speed: a one-year time limit for determining consents relating to new and existing renewable energy, as well as the transmission and distribution of electricity. Applicants are entitled to extensions of up to one-year, which can also be requested by Treaty settlement entities, iwi authorities and recognised customary rights groups. Any requests must be granted for new geothermal or hydro energy production.
  2. Process changes: amendments to simplify the consenting regime, including by reducing hearing obligations and allowing applications to be returned as incomplete where applicants fail to respond to requests. Reflecting what is often common practice, information provided in applications and in response to further information requests must be proportionate to the nature and significance of the proposal, and applicants can formally request draft conditions once, to review and provide comment on technical or minor matters.
  3. Lapse and duration: increasing the default lapse period for renewable energy consents from five to 10 years, as well as introducing a default 35-year duration for renewable energy and long-lived infrastructure the Bill includes a definition for long-lived infrastructure (which includes activities relating to gas pipelines, telecommunications, electricity generation and conveyance and transport) but also allows regulations to prescribe additional activities.
Designations

The Bill introduces changes to the designation process to simplify requirements and costs for designating authorities, which include:

  1. Lapse: increasing the default lapse period from five to 10 years.
  2. Recommendations: changing the matters that territorial authorities must consider in making recommendations so that the alternatives and reasonable necessity tests are only relevant when the requiring authority does not have a sufficient interest in the land. Currently, the alternatives test is also relevant where there are significant adverse effects on the environment, and reasonable necessity is always considered.
  3. Application: explicitly mandating what a requiring authority’s assessment of effects must cover. These matters reflect what territorial authorities must consider when making a recommendation, except that an assessment of possible alternative locations or methods is also required where significant adverse effects are likely. Like resource consenting, the Bill introduces an explicit requirement that such assessments need only be at a level of detail that is proportionate to the nature and significance of any effects.
Ports

The Government also prioritises amendments to facilitate the development and efficiency of ports and to strengthen international supply networks. To this end, the Bill proposes:

  1. Coastal permits: extending the duration of coastal permits by 20 years to 30 September 2046. This comes with a mandatory review process to determine whether any conditions need changing to avoid, remedy or mitigate any adverse environmental effects, but with restricted appeal rights.
  2. Requiring authority: extending requiring authority powers (by way of expanding the definition of network utility operator) to the operation of inland ports or the landward operations of a seaward port operated under the Port Companies Act 1988.
Enforcement and compliance

The Bill includes amendments to enhance the compliance and enforcement regime.

Some of these amendments have been picked up from the previous Government’s (now repealed) reforms and align with the coalition Government’s plan to transition away from a focus on consenting and towards an enhanced regime for compliance, monitoring, and enforcement of national standards. Key changes include:

  1. Penalties: increasing the maximum fine for natural persons from NZ$300,000 to NZ$1 million and for non-natural persons (including companies) from NZ$600,000 to NZ$10,000,000. The Bill also reduces the maximum imprisonment term for natural persons from two years to 18 months, which removes the ability to elect a jury trial.
  2. Insurance: making insurance against fines or infringement fees an offence and rendering such contracts of no effect. Offers and agreements to indemnify, or paying or receiving an indemnity, are also made offences. This change comes into effect two years after the Bill receives Royal Assent. Notably, this prohibition does not extend to legal or remediation costs.
  3. Enforcement orders and abatement notices: enabling local authorities and the Environmental Protection Authority to apply to the Environment Court for an enforcement order to suspend or revoke a resource consent where there is ongoing, significant or repeated non-compliance. The scope of abatement notices is also expanded to cover ensuring compliance with national environmental standards, which reflects the Government’s shift towards greater use of national standards.
  4. Cost recovery: enhancing cost recovery for council monitoring and compliance functions, including with respect to compliance with permitted activity rules.
  5. Compliance history: enabling compliance history to be considered in resource consent decisions. This allows consent authorities to decline resource consent where there is a record of ongoing, significant or repeated non-compliance with a requirement subject to enforcement orders or convictions. Consent authorities can also impose conditions to mitigate the risk of non-compliance, and initiate reviews based on contravening consent conditions. These changes reiterate the importance of reviewing compliance history when acquiring an existing business.
Discharges

The Bill amends the scope of discharge rules under section 70 of the Resource Management Act (RMA), in response to recent Court findings and in alignment with the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024.

Section 70 limits the circumstances in which regional councils can permit discharges, which currently includes where there are significant adverse effects on aquatic life in the receiving waterbody. The Bill enables regional councils to permit such discharges if those adverse effects already exist and there are standards that contribute to a reduction in adverse effects over a specified time period.

The Bill contains a raft of significant changes to the existing RMA framework. We will provide updates when more is known about Phase 3 of the Government’s reform programme.

If you have any questions about the matters raised in this article, please get in touch with the contacts listed or your usual Bell Gully adviser.

Disclaimer: This publication is necessarily brief and general in nature. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication.

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