Resource Management Act: RMA Link: Processes: Details

National Environmental Standards are a means of setting mandatory ‘bottom lines’ for environmental quality. They are a way of ensuring that the environmental protection afforded by the RMA is applied more consistently throughout New Zealand. National Environmental Standards are provided for in section 43-44 of the Act, and have the status of regulations. District and regional councils are required to 'give effect to' NES's in their district and regional plans.

No NES’s were prepared in the first 12 years of the RMA, however there is now a renewed effort to prepare and introduce standards to guide various aspects of environmental management. Air Quality standards came into effect in 2004. Several others are in preparation.

The 2005 amendments strengthened and clarified the parts of the RMA that provide for setting NES’s. They clarify the relationship between NES's and district and regional plan rules, council bylaws, and conditions of resource consents. The aim is to achieve consistency in the way similar activities are controlled by consent authorities throughout New Zealand. More NES's will probably reduce the number of consents required in future.

A rule or resource consent may not be more lenient than a NES. A rule or consent condition can be more stringent if justified in S32 report. If conditions of an existing consent are weaker than an NES, a consent authority may be required to undertake a section 128 review. MFE's Improving National Leadership factsheet gives more details on these changes.

Submissions on National Environmental Standards.
The Act does not outline a process for preparation (or review) of NES’s. Regulations do not include a prescribed form for submissions on NES's. The process adopted to date by MFE has allowed for public consultation on draft standards.

Details on current and proposed standards can be found on the MFE website www.mfe.govt.nz/laws/rma/standards.