Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

 Plain Language Law homepage
Back to
43A: Contents of national environmental standards
or “National environmental standards can set rules about what activities are allowed or not allowed, and how they should be managed to protect the environment.”
You could also call this:

“This explains when local rules or permits can be stricter or more relaxed than national environmental rules.”

You need to know how national environmental standards, rules, and resource consents work together. A national environmental standard is a set of rules that apply across New Zealand. Sometimes, these standards can be overridden by local rules or resource consents.

If a standard says it’s okay, a rule or consent can be stricter than the standard. This means the rule or consent can stop you from doing something the standard allows. For example, a rule might not let you do an activity that the standard says is okay.

The standard can also say it’s okay for a rule or consent to be more relaxed. This means the rule or consent might let you do something the standard doesn’t allow.

If you got permission to use land or subdivide it before the standard was published, your permission is still valid. The same goes for permits related to the coast, water, or discharges, and some land use consents. These stay valid until they’re reviewed.

For other resource consents, if the decision to notify your application was made before the standard was published, your consent is usually still valid. But the standard can say that it overrides these consents if it wants to.

If a standard says you need to get a resource consent for an activity, some special rules apply. These rules are the same as if the standard was a rule in a local plan.

Remember, when we talk about publishing standards, we mean publishing them under the Legislation Act 2019.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

Next up: 43C: Relationship between national environmental standards and water conservation orders

or “Rules about which is more important: special water protection orders or national environmental rules for water”
Next

Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
National direction: National environmental standards

43BRelationship between national environmental standards and rules or consents

  1. A rule or resource consent that is more stringent than a national environmental standard prevails over the standard, if the standard expressly says that a rule or consent may be more stringent than it.

  2. For the purposes of subsection (1),—

  3. a rule is more stringent than a standard if it prohibits or restricts an activity that the standard permits or authorises:
    1. a resource consent is more stringent than a standard if it imposes conditions on an activity that the standard does not impose or authorise.

      1. A rule or resource consent that is more lenient than a national environmental standard prevails over the standard if the standard expressly says that a rule or consent may be more lenient than it.

      2. For the purposes of subsection (3), a rule or resource consent is more lenient than a standard if it permits or authorises an activity that the standard prohibits or restricts.

      3. A land use consent or a subdivision consent granted under the district rules before the date on which a national environmental standard is published under the Legislation Act 2019 prevails over the standard.

      4. The following permits and consents prevail over a national environmental standard:

      5. a coastal, water, or discharge permit:
        1. a land use consent granted in relation to a regional rule.

          1. Subsection (6) applies—

          2. if those permits or consents are granted before the date on which a relevant national environmental standard is published under the Legislation Act 2019:
            1. until a review of the conditions of the permit or consent under section 128(1)(ba) results in some or all of the standard prevailing over the permit or consent.

              1. This subsection applies to a resource consent not covered by subsection (5) or (6). The consent prevails over a national environmental standard if the application giving rise to the consent was the subject of a decision on whether to notify it before the date on which the standard is published under the Legislation Act 2019. However, the consent does not prevail if the standard expressly provides otherwise.

              2. Repealed

              3. If a national environmental standard requires a resource consent to be obtained for an activity, sections 10, 10A, 10B, and 20A(2) apply to the activity as if the standard were a rule in a plan that had become operative.

              Notes
              • Section 43B: replaced, on , by section 29 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87).
              • Section 43B(3): replaced, on , by section 30(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
              • Section 43B(5): replaced, on , by section 44 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
              • Section 43B(5): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
              • Section 43B(5): amended, on , by section 30(2) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
              • Section 43B(6): replaced, on , by section 30(3) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
              • Section 43B(6A): inserted, on , by section 30(3) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
              • Section 43B(6A)(a): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
              • Section 43B(7): replaced, on , by section 44 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
              • Section 43B(7): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
              • Section 43B(8): repealed, on , by section 44 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).