Resource Management Act 1991


The Resource Management Act passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the [|sustainable management] of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment describes the RMA as New Zealand's principal legislation for environmental management.
The RMA and the decisions made under it by district and regional councils and in courts affect both individuals and businesses in large numbers, and often in very tangible ways. The Act has variously been attacked for being ineffective in managing adverse environmental effects, or overly time-consuming and expensive and concerned with bureaucratic restrictions on legitimate economic activities.
The Sixth Labour Government replaced the RMA with two separate acts: the Natural and Built Environment Act 2023, and the Spatial Planning Act 2023 ; and planned to add the Climate Change Adaptation Bill. Following the 2023 New Zealand general election, the National-led coalition government repealed Labour's NBA and SPA legislation. It also promised to reform the RMA and eventually replace it with new resource management laws.

Significance

The adoption of the RMA was significant for three reasons. Firstly, the RMA established one integrated framework that replaced the many previous resource-use regimes, which had been fragmented between agencies and sectors, such as land use, forestry, pollution, traffic, zoning, water and air.
Secondly, the RMA was the first statutory planning regime to incorporate the principle of sustainability.
Thirdly, the RMA incorporated 'sustainable management', as an explicitly stated purpose placed at the heart of the regulatory framework and this purpose is to direct all other policies, standards, plans and decision-making under the RMA. Having the purpose of the RMA at the apex of an unambiguous legislative hierarchy was a unique concept worldwide at the time of the law's inception.

Related legislations

The RMA replaced a large number of acts, regulations and orders. A total of 59 Acts and amended Acts were repealed, and nineteen regulations and orders were revoked. The notable acts repealed were the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1977. The mining and minerals regime was separated from the Resource Management Bill at the third reading stage and was enacted as the Crown Minerals Act 1991.
However, three of these statutes, provided important elements of the RMA. The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 provided the precedent for catchment-based entities and catchment boards became part of the new regional councils. The Town and Country Planning Act 1977 provided the consenting and planning procedures. The Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 provided the consenting regime and case law for water.

Beginnings

Following the National Party's antipathy to environmental issues in the 1980s, as expressed in the Think Big economic development projects and the National Development Act, the New Zealand Labour Party went into the 1984 election campaign with a platform of reforming planning and local government institutions and adopting better environmental policies. The reform policy involved creating an integrated resource decision making system to replace the existing sectoral based system. The Labour Party environment policy, such as this quote from Part I, paragraph 3, owed much to the Brundtland Commission's concept of sustainable development;
to ensure the management of the human use of the biosphere to yield the greatest sustainable benefits to present generations while maintaining the potential to meet the goods and aspirations of future generations

Resource Management Law Reform

In the 1987 election the fourth Labour Government won a second term in office and deputy prime minister Geoffrey Palmer became the Minister for the Environment. Palmer initiated a comprehensive reform project for New Zealand's environmental and planning laws. This was the Resource Management Law Reform or RMLR. Palmer's objectives explicitly included giving effect to the Treaty of Waitangi, cost-effective use of resources, the World Conservation Strategy, intergenerational equity, and intrinsic values of ecosystems. Palmer chaired a Cabinet committee supervising a core group of four people supported by the Ministry for the Environment. The core group developed policy through a series of 32 working papers and through extensive public consultation. In December 1988, the reform proposals were published. In December 1989, Palmer introduced the 314-page Resource Management Bill to the Parliament of New Zealand. The Select Committee reported back to the House on 14 August,1990, but the Committee of the Whole House stage was not completed before the general election of 1990, which Labour lost. However, the new National Minister for the Environment, Simon Upton, continued the law reform process leading to the enactment of the RMA.

Final drafting of the RMA

The new Minister, Simon Upton, noted the divergent views of submitters on the proposed purpose and principles of the Bill. A Cabinet paper of 10 March 1989 argued that the overall objectives and the broad philosophy of the Bill should be stated in a purpose section and clarified in a section on fundamental principles. After the 1990 election, Simon Upton appointed a Review Group to assess the purpose and principle clauses. The group consisted of: Tony Randerson, a lawyer, as chair; Prue Crosson, a lawyer; environmentalist Guy Salmon; planner Ken Tremaine; and Brent Wheeler, an economist.
The Review Group considered that the clauses had become a conflicting 'shopping list' of matters advanced by interest groups, with no clear priority. That would result in the 'trading off' or balancing of socio-economic and biophysical aspects. They rejected such a balancing approach in favour of use within biophysical constraints. They considered that the Bill should not have a purpose of sustainable development with a focus on social justice and wealth redistribution. They concluded that purpose of the Bill should be 'sustainable management' and that the critical aspect of that purpose should be intergenerational equity, that is, safeguarding natural resource options for future generations. A second purpose of avoiding, remedying or mitigating adverse effects of activities was added. The purpose and principles sections were consequently rewritten.
Finally, with the approval of Cabinet, Simon Upton added the third 'sustainable management' purpose of 'safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems'.
Simon Upton stated in his third reading speech to Parliament that the purpose of the RMA was not concerned with planning and controlling economic activity, nor about trade-offs, but about sustaining, safeguarding, avoiding, remedying, and mitigating the adverse effects of the use of natural resources.
The Bill provides us with a framework to establish objectives with a biophysical bottom line that must not be compromised. Provided that those objectives are met, what people get up to is their affair. As such, the Bill provides a more liberal regime for developers. On the other hand, activities will have to be compatible with hard environmental standards and society will set those standards. Clause 4 sets out the biophysical bottom line. Clauses 5 and 6 set out further specific matters that expand on the issues. The Bill has a clear and rigorous procedure for the setting of environmental standards – and the debate will be concentrating on just where we set those standards.

Part 2 Purpose and Principles

The result of Upton's input was that RMA was enacted with a Part 2 consisting of three 'principles' in an unambiguous hierarchy below the overarching purpose of 'sustainable management', set out in section 5. Under that section, the RMA has one specifically defined purpose; to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.

Definition of sustainable management

The RMA, in Section 5, describes "sustainable management" as

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-
Sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations; and
Safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystem; and
Avoiding, remedying or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the environment.

Principles

Section 6 is a list of matters of national importance that shall be 'recognised and provided for' in achieving the purpose of the RMA;
  • natural character of the coastal environment:
  • outstanding natural features and landscapes:
  • significant indigenous habitats and vegetation:
  • public access to waterbodies:
  • Māori culture, traditions, ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and taonga :
  • historic heritage:
  • recognised customary activities.
Section 7 is a list of matters that all decisions 'shall have particular regard to' in achieving the purpose of the RMA;
  • Kaitiakitanga:
  • stewardship:
  • efficient use and development of natural and physical resources:
  • efficiency of the end use of energy:
  • amenity values:
  • intrinsic values of ecosystems:
  • quality of the environment:
  • finite characteristics of natural and physical resources:
  • habitat of trout and salmon:
  • climate change:
  • renewable energy.
Section 8 has the title "Treaty of Waitangi" and states that in achieving the purpose of the RMA, 'account shall be taken' of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.