RMA reform at a glance

Part 2 of each Bill (titled “Foundations”) sets out their respective goals, the relationship between planning documents, procedural principles (including, for example, to act in a timely and cost-effective manner and to act proportionately to the scale and significance of the matter) and some direction in relation to the consideration of effects.

Planning Bill

Key changes include:

• New goals: The Bill introduces several new goals, notably:
• ensuring that land use does not unreasonably affect others
• supporting and enabling economic growth and change by enabling the use and development of land
• maintaining public access to the coastal marine area and waterbodies
• providing for Māori interests through participation in plan development, identification and protection of sites of significance to Māori, and enabling the development and protection of identified Māori land.

• Effects that must be disregarded: Decision-makers must disregard specified effects, including:
• the visual amenity of a use, development, or building in relation to its character, appearance, aesthetic qualities, or other physical feature
• views from private property
• effects on landscape
• the effect of setting a precedent

These exclusions do not restrict the management of:

• areas of high natural character within the coastal environment, wetlands, lakes, rivers and their margins
• outstanding natural landscapes and features
• sites of significant historic heritage
• sites of significance to Māori
• the effects of natural hazards.

Natural Environment Bill

Key changes include:

• New goals: While some goals are similar to the RMA’s purpose and principles (for example, safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems), notable new goals include:
• achieving no net loss in indigenous biodiversity
• managing the effects of natural hazards
• providing for Māori interests as described above.

• Considering effects of activities: A decision-maker:
• must give particular consideration to:
• the positive effects of enabling activities
• the effects on natural resources
• the effects of natural hazards
• must not consider effects regulated by the Planning Bill
• may consider any other effect of the activity.

• Environmental limits: The Bill establishes environmental limits:
• to protect human health (set by the Minister)
• to protect the life-supporting capacity of the natural environment (set by regional councils through natural environment plans)
• limits must be expressed either as a biophysical state for a management unit or the allowable level of harm or stress on the natural environment

Treaty of Waitangi/Tiriti o Waitangi

The preliminary provisions of both bills include a Treaty of Waitangi/Tiriti o Waitangi clause which provides that the Crown's responsibility in relation to the Treaty is recognised by specific clauses of each Bill, for example, through the goals of each bill and the requirement to consult with iwi authorities in the preparation of planning documents.

Key changes include:

• Introduction of national instrument: “National instruments” is the new collective term for the suite of secondary legislation that will help create consistent processes, nationally consistent approaches and set standardised content for plans. National instruments will comprise of:
• one national policy direction (NPD) under each Bill that will be short and targeted towards giving clear direction on national priorities; and
• national standards (including environmental limits and nationally standardised zones and overlays for land use and natural resource management) that will sit below the NPDs and will provide detailed and technical direction needed to implement the NPDs

• Funnel approach: The hierarchy of planning documents according to the Bills are:
1. NPD: To set goals, direct how they will be achieved and resolve conflicts of goals between both Bills
2. National standards: Implement the NPD, provide procedural or administrative consistency, provide regulatory consistency and provide specific direction on how a goal is achieved where it is not covered by an NPD
3. Spatial plans: Implement national instruments to support urban development and infrastructure provision within environmental limits over a 30-year period
4. Land-use (Planning Bill): Prepared by territorial authorities to implement spatial plans by applying nationally standardised zones, rules and methodologies. Territorial authorities must use standardised provisions or where allowed by national instruments, create bespoke provisions supported by a justification report explaining why a departure from the national approach is necessary
5. Natural environment (Natural Environment Bill) plans: One plan per region that regulates the use, protection and enhancement of natural resources within a region and assist regional councils carrying out their functions and responsibilities under the Act.

Each key instrument must implement the instrument immediately above it, except land-use and natural environment plans, which operate at the same level. The "funnel" starts with clear goals at the top that narrow into what could be considered at each level of the system. At each level, fewer matters will "up for debate" or able to be re-litigated.

National instruments will be delivered in two main stages:

• First suite of national instruments to inform spatial plans to be delivered by the end of 2026, including one NPD for each Bill and environmental limits relating to human health for freshwater, coastal water, land, soil and air domains, national standards required for the spatial plan; and
• The second suite to be delivered in mid-2027 to include national standards needed for the land-use and natural environmental plan, standardised plan content (Planning Bill land-use zones and overlays) and processes to set and manage ecosystem health limits to safeguard life-supporting capacity.

• One plan per region: Each region will have a combined regional plan that consists of the regional spatial plan, natural environment plan and the land-use plan.
• this is intended to simplify the system and significantly reduce the number of plans compared with the RMA
• community engagement is expected to shift to the development of the combined regional plan, rather than at the permitting or consenting stage
• where national instruments permit bespoke provisions, these may be subject to merits submissions and appeals. that consists of the regional spatial plan, natural environment plan and the land-use plan

• Minister responsibility: The Minister and Central Government will play a more active role in the new system and will have more powers than under the RMA.
• the Minister is responsible for matters such as recommending, making and approving national instruments, setting national standards, limits and methodologies for regional councils to follow and monitoring
• the Minister also has powers to intervene, including to direct regional councils and territorial authorities to prepare a plan, plan change or variation to a proposed plan, make regulations on a broad spectrum of matters

• Building upon previous updates to national direction: To align with the new systems goal-based approach, some components of the new national instruments will build on existing or nearly finalised RMA national directions. However, all current instruments will be assessed to align with the new system

Most compliance and enforcement changes align with those previously included in the Natural and Built Environment Act 2023. Key changes include:

• Compliance history: May be considered when assessing permits or consents and may be grounds for decline.
• Financial assurance: Security for the costs and expenses of remediation or clean-up for an activity can now be required
• Polluter pays: Polluters of contaminated land may be required to meet prevention and remediation costs.
• Increased penalties: Prior increases remain, with some increase to continuing offences for body corporates, and some more minor offences.
• New enforcement tools: There are a range of new enforcement tools, including:
• adverse publicity orders: Non-compliant person to publicise their non compliance, its impact and its penalties
• enforceable undertakings: Enforceable undertakings may now be accepted and may include an undertaking to pay compensation or take action to avoid, minimise or remedy any actual or likely adverse effects arising
• monetary benefit orders: Order requiring payment of the monetary benefit arising from the offence
• pecuniary penalty order: Max NZD1 million for a natural person and for a body corporate maximum NZD10 million, plus potentially three times the value of the commercial gain; or 10% of the turnover

Planning Tribunal

The Planning Tribunal is a new division of the Environment Court, which will consist of a chairperson and adjudicators. Its functions are to:

• Review decisions made by a local authority: including in relation to completeness of an application, submission strike out, notification, non-compliance with statutory timeframes, and existing use rights.
• Exercise declaratory powers, including in relation to the proper interpretation of conditions.

There is a presumption that matters will be determined without a hearing. Rights of appeal are limited to points of law to the Environment Court and judicial review to the High Court.

Spatial Planning Committee

A new Spatial Planning Committee will be established for each region. Local authorities in each region must jointly prepare terms of reference. The Committee must prepare the draft regional spatial plan and a coordination plan, and must review the spatial plan at least every 10 years. The Minister may appoint at least one committee member.

Environment Court

The Environment Court remains, and continues to have powers in relation to consents, declarations and enforcement.

Some of the key changes are:

• Its role in plan making will be more limited, for standardised provisions it will be limited to points of law, but it will hear merits appeals on bespoke provisions in land use plans
• It will hear appeals on decisions of the Planning Tribunal on points of law
• The ability for the Environment Court to consider direct referrals and nationally significant proposals will be removed from the system

The Bills simplify activity classification, alter participation in the consenting and permitting process by raising the threshold for notification, with the intention of enabling faster, cheaper and more certain consenting and permitting, while reducing the overall number of consents and permits required.

The key changes are:

• Consents / Permits:
• planning consents under the Planning Bill in two broad categories: land use consent and subdivision consent. Territorial authority is the consent authority
• natural resource permits under the Natural Environment Bill in four broad categories: coastal permit, discharge permit, land use permit and water permit. Regional council is the permit authority

• Activity status: Activity classification simplified into four categories: permitted, restricted discretionary, discretionary, and prohibited activities (controlled and non-complying activities no longer provided for). It is intended that under the Bills more activities will be permitted without the need for a consent or permit, particularly those with less-than-minor adverse effects.
• Notification:
• public notification: will occur when the adverse effects are more than minor or significant (depending on the Bill) and there are no affected persons or not all affected persons are able to be identified
• what is now termed "targeted notification" (rather than limited notification): will occur when the adverse effects are more than minor and all affected persons can be identified
• the effects thresholds for notification have therefore been raised
• special circumstances not relevant to notification decisions

• Consideration of applications. Specified matters must be disregarded, including any adverse effect of the activity on the environment if the land use plan or a national rule permits an activity with that effect in context of consents, and any adverse effect of the activity on the natural environment if the natural environment plan or a national rule permits an activity with that effect in the context of permits. This means that what is commonly referred to as the permitted baseline is now proposed to be mandatory rather than discretionary.
• Processing time frames: Maximum processing time frames prescribed for non-notified, targeted notified and publicly notified consents and permits

The Planning Bill provides for designations in land use plans. Designations can be secured through either the spatial planning or notice of requirement processes.

The key changes are:

• Designating authorities: The Bill specifies that a Minister, local authority, core infrastructure operator or person that operates infrastructure approved as a designated authority, are designated authorities under the Bill.
• Recommending authority: A territorial authority may appoint 1 or more hearings commissioners to be the recommending authority on a proposed designation.
• Designation conditions: A recommending authority may only recommend a designation condition if it is no more onerous than necessary to manage an adverse effect and the effect is not more appropriately addressed through a construction project plan.
• Spatial planning pathway: A designating authority may apply to a spatial planning committee to include a proposed designation in the draft spatial plan.