Bridget Bailey

The fast-track consenting regime proposed by the National/ACT/NZ First coalition government was introduced to Parliament on 7 March 2024. The most awaited aspect of the Fast-track Approvals Bill – the list of projects to be fast-tracked – is blank at this stage. A Fast-track Advisory Group of experts is to be established in the coming weeks to advise Ministers on what projects should be included in the legislation, following which the projects will be inserted into the schedules. The key aspects of the Fast-track Approvals Bill are as follows. Purpose The Bill’s purpose is to provide a fast-track decision-making process that facilitates the delivery of infrastructure and development projects with significant regional or national benefits. The Bill’s purpose has no reference to continuing to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources, unlike the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 (FTA). Processes covered The Bill covers a much greater range of consents/approvals. In addition to resource consents and notices of requirement for designations under the RMA it includes consents/approvals under the Conservation Act 1987, Wildlife Act 1953, Freshwater Fisheries Regulations 1983, Reserves Act 1977, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012, Crown Minerals Act 1991, and Fisheries Act 1996. The Bill also makes a change to Environment Court processes under the Public Works Act 1981 for projects dealt with under the Bill. The FTA only dealt with resource consents and notices of requirement for designations under the RMA. Treaty of Waitangi The Bill requires persons exercising functions under it to act in accordance with Treaty settlements and recognised customary rights. The Bill does not contain a requirement to act in a manner that is consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, unlike the FTA. Projects The Bill provides for two types of listed projects, and referred projects. The two types of listed projects will be: Part A – listed projects that can be referred straight to an Expert Panel. Part B – listed projects that may be considered by the joint Ministers for referral to an Expert Panel. The Bill contains criteria for being a referred project including whether the project will have significant regional or national benefits. An example of projects that may qualify include projects that will increase the supply of housing, address housing needs, or contribute to a well-functioning urban environment. Projects are referred to Expert Panels for consideration. Expert Panel The Expert Panel will be set up in a similar way to Expert Consenting Panels under the FTA. However, Expert Panels will only be making recommendations to the ‘joint Ministers’ who will make the decisions. The joint Ministers For the most part, the responsible ‘joint Ministers’ under the Bill are the Ministers for Infrastructure, Regional Development and Transport. This is a move away from the Ministers for the Environment and Conservation under the FTA, although the latter will join the others for Wildlife Act matters. Appeal rights Appeal rights are available to the High Court on a point of law only. Rights of judicial review are not affected by the Bill. Select committee process The Bill has a strong focus on infrastructure and development and will be controversial. It has been referred to the Environment Committee for a select committee process and is open for submissions until 19 April 2024. Please get in touch if you would like to make a submission or discuss things further.

On 7 February 2024 the Supreme Court released its decision in Smith v Fonterra and unanimously agreed to not strike out Mr Smith’s claims against seven of New Zealand’s largest green house gas (GHG) emitting companies. The threshold to strike out a claim is high and requires that there be no reasonably arguable claim.  Like any other plaintiff with a tenable claim, Mr Smith will be entitled to have his case heard. Background The case concerned claims by Mr Smith, an iwi leader and elder of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu and a climate change spokesperson for the Iwi Chairs Forum, against Fonterra, Genesis Energy, Dairy Holdings Ltd, NZ Steel Ltd, Z Energy, Channel Infrastructure and BT Mining (Respondents).  The claims asserted that the Respondents’ GHG emissions have contributed and will continue to contribute to global warming.  This has caused and will cause harm to Mr Smith, his whānau, his descendants and others. Mr Smith’s claim comprised of three causes of action: Public nuisance; Negligence; and A proposed new tort involving a duty to cease contributing to damage to the climate system. The Respondents applied to strike out Mr Smith’s proceeding on the basis that it raises no reasonably arguable cause of action. The High Court struck out Mr Smith’s claims in public nuisance and negligence in 2020, but declined to strike out his claim based on the proposed new tort.  The Court of Appeal went further and struck out all three causes of action. The Supreme Court’s decision The Supreme Court found that it was in no position to find that Mr Smith’s causes of action were untenable.  It emphasised the high threshold for a strike out application noting that “pre-emptive elimination of proceedings is only appropriate where it can be said that whatever the facts proved, or arguments and policy considerations advanced at trial, a case is bound to fail”. The common law has not previously grappled with a crisis as all-embracing as climate change.  However, the Supreme Court stated that this area of common law must develop “in the fertile field of trial, not on the barren rocks of a strike out application”. Can Tikanga inform the formulation of tort claims? Mr Smith claims, in accordance with tikanga, a whakapapa (genealogical) and whanaungatanga (kinship) relationship to the whenua (land), wai (fresh water) and moana (sea) around his land.  His claim is that the respondents contributed to climate change effects that caused and will cause ongoing injury to the customary, cultural, historical, spiritual and nutritional values associated with these places.  His tikanga based connection with these places provides the foundation for the claim that an injury to place is also an injury to himself, his whānau and descendants. The Supreme Court stated that whatever the cause of action, the trial court will need to grapple with the fact that Mr Smith purports to bring proceedings not merely as an alleged proprietor who has suffered loss, but also as a kaitiaki acting on behalf of the whenua, wai and moana.  It must consider some tikanga concepts of loss that are neither physical nor economic. Addressing and assessing matters of tikanga simply cannot be avoided. Mr Smith’s case can now proceed to a full trial in the High Court.

The National Built and Environment Act 2023 (NBEA) and the Spatial Planning Act 2023 (SPA) were given Royal Assent on 24 August 2023 and will repeal and replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). While the complete transition to the new system is expected to take more than a decade, parts of the NBEA are already in force: Fast Track Consenting The NBEA’s new fast track consenting process has now come into effect. Applicants can now seek ministerial referral of projects that meet a set of eligibility criteria (which relate to infrastructure and housing activities). If the referral is accepted, applicants can apply to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for resource consent. Expert consenting panels then decide on the substantive applications and may set conditions on projects before they go ahead. Compliance, Management and Enforcement New compliance and enforcement tools have come into force and include the following: fines for non-compliance with consent conditions have increased: - $300,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 for individuals; and - $600,000.00 to $10,000,000.00 for companies. changes to abatement notice provisions which allow abatement notices to be issued for a breach of consent notices and covenants imposed by the conditions of a resource consent. new powers in relation to excessive noise which permit enforcement officers to issue an excessive noise direction which requires the noise to be immediately reduced to a reasonable level. Contaminated Land The ‘polluter pays’ principle applies from the day after Royal Assent and sets a presumption that polluters are to bear the costs of managing pollution to prevent damage to human health and the environment in relation to contaminated land. The EPA and the relevant local authority are empowered to recover all actual and reasonable costs from the polluter. Shorter Term for Freshwater Resource Consents Most new freshwater-related consents will have a new time limit on how long they last. The aim is to ensure freshwater resources are not locked in for long periods before regions make decisions in their NBE plans about how to allocate freshwater in their areas. The maximum duration applies to resource consents to take, use, dam, or divert freshwater. It also applies to consents for discharging any contaminants into freshwater or onto land where it can enter freshwater. The maximum duration can be no longer the 5 years after allocation methods in a region’s first NBE plan take effect. Once the transition to the new system has been completed, then the maximum duration will be 10 years (rather than 35 years under the RMA). Freshwater Planning Instruments The NBEA amends section 80A of the RMA to widen the meaning of a ‘freshwater planning instrument’ and to change what instruments must (or may) use the freshwater planning process. Aquaculture The Minister for Aquaculture now has extended powers to suspend resource applications, make regulations and allocate aquaculture space. However, following the recent election and a new National led government, we may in store for further changes to the new system (including the new system being scrapped altogether) before the end of the year.

Following the recent storm and flooding events, Tauranga City Council (TCC) has undertaken a review of its slope hazard maps and some landowners may have received letters from TCC advising that their property is now subject to a ‘slope hazard’. Many landowners are concerned about what this means for them and their property. Legal Basis for Review In short, TCC is required by the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) to identify areas potentially at risk from natural hazards and has undertaken this mapping in order to meet its obligations under the Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement to manage natural hazard risk and its Infrastructure Development Code. It has always had this obligation and has now undertaken land stability mapping specifically to determine slope hazards as a priority. The RMA states that “the management of significant risks from natural hazards” is a matter of national importance, which decision makers must recognise and provide for. “Natural hazards” is defined in the RMA as including erosion and land slippage. TCC also has a legal obligation to record special characteristics of the land (including land slippage) on a LIM under s44A of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which aren’t apparent from the City Plan, which includes natural hazard maps of this kind. What Does this Mean for You? Legally, the new maps will have implications for a landowner’s ability to build or undertake any further development of their property. The Building Act 2004 (BA) provides that a council must refuse to grant a building consent for construction of a building or major alterations to a building if the land is subject to (or is likely to be subject to) one or more natural hazards or the building work is likely to accelerate, worsen, or result in a natural hazard. A building consent may only be granted for work on land subject to a natural hazard on the basis that adequate provision is made to protect the land, building work, or other properties from the natural hazard. This means that in order to obtain a building consent, landowners will need to prove that the building work will not worsen, accelerate or cause a natural hazard and you may end up with a notice on the title recording the natural hazard risk. If building consent is granted for land identified as being subject to a natural hazard, the BA requires notice of the building consent and the natural risk to be registered on the property’s record of title. You can ascertain if your property is subject to a slope hazard by using TCC’s mapping tool (Mapi) (as per the image below). If you are intending to purchase a property it is important that you seek legal advice regarding any potential slope hazard that may affect the land. If you require assistance we are able to assist you with any of you due diligence enquiries. If you are concerned about your property being subject to a slope hazard, and require legal advice regarding the same, please feel free to contact us.

The NPS-HPL came into effect on 17 October 2022. Since then, two issues have been identified about its restrictions on non-land-based uses and development. These are: The lack of a clear consent pathway for construction of new “specified infrastructure” (which includes renewable energy, such as solar farms) on highly productive land (HPL) in clause 3.9(2)(j)(i) of the NPS-HPL; and The lack of a clear consent pathway for development and relocation of intensive indoor primary production and greenhouses on HPL. The discussion document can be found here: Potential-amendments-to-the-NPS-HPL-discussion-document.pdf (environment.govt.nz) Consent Pathway for “Specified Infrastructure” The proposed change is to clause 3.9 of the NPS-HPL which states that: 3.9(2) A use or development of HPL is inappropriate except where at least one of the following applies to the use or development… (j) It is associated with one of the following, and there is a functional or operational need for the use or development to be on the HPL: (i) The maintenance, operation, upgrade, or expansion of specified infrastructure: (emphasis added) As currently worded, the NPS-HPL does not provide a clear consent pathway for construction of specified infrastructure on HPL, only its “maintenance, operation, upgrade or expansion”’. This limits the ability to construct new specified infrastructure on HPL at pace and limits certain providers (such as renewable energy generators or installers of fibre who are not requiring authorities). The Government has identified two options to address this issue and has indicated that it considers that the amendment in the second option is necessary. The options are as follows: Maintain the status quo which would allow time for the NPS-HPL to be given effect to in plans, policy statements and consent decisions (this would likely take some time); or Amend clause 3.9(j)(i) to include the word ‘construction’. The amendment suggested in the second option (which is the Government’s preferred option) would provide a clear consent pathway for construction of new specified infrastructure on HPL. Consent Pathway for Intensive Indoor Primary Production and Greenhouses The NPS-HPL also does not provide for a clear consent pathway for development of new intensive indoor primary production and greenhouses. To address this issue the Government has suggested that the NPS-HPL could be amended to provide for a pathway for developing and relocating intensive indoor primary productions on HPL, but has identified that this option is misaligned with the policy objectives of the NPS-HPL. No preference was given to this option over keeping the status quo. The Government is seeking submissions and feedback on the proposed options. Submissions close on 31 October 2023. If you have any queries regarding the proposed amendments to the NPS-HPL or if you wish to make a submission please do not hesitate to contact us.