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:
4. a resource consent is more stringent than a standard if it imposes conditions on an activity that the standard does not impose or authorise.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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

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

11. Subsection (6) applies—

12. if those permits or consents are granted before the date on which a relevant national environmental standard is published under the Legislation Act 2019:
13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Repealed

16. 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.