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51A: Withdrawal of proposed national policy statement
or “The Minister can stop a proposed national policy before it's approved and must tell everyone why.”
You could also call this:

“The Minister reviews suggestions, decides on changes, and gets approval for important environmental rules.”

When someone suggests a national policy statement, the Minister must do a few things. First, they need to look at a report and any advice given by a special group called a board of inquiry. Then, the Minister can choose to make changes to the proposed statement, keep it as it is, or decide not to go ahead with it. If they decide not to go ahead, they have to tell everyone why. The Minister also needs to carefully check if the statement is a good idea by looking at its effects.

If the Minister thinks the statement is good, they can ask the Governor-General to approve it. Once it’s approved, the Minister has to publish it so everyone can see it. They also need to let all local authorities know about it and give a summary to anyone who shared their thoughts on the statement earlier.

The national policy statement is a type of law, and there are special rules about how it’s made and published. The Minister is in charge of making it, but it only becomes official when the Governor-General approves it.

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Next up: 53: Changes to or review or revocation of national policy statements

or “Rules for changing or getting rid of important national environmental guidelines”
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Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
National direction: National policy statements

52Consideration of recommendations and approval or withdrawal of statement

  1. In the case of a national policy statement, whether made in accordance with section 46A(3)(a) or (b), the Minister—

  2. first, must consider a report and any recommendations made to them by a board of inquiry under section 46A(4)(c) or 51, as the case requires; and
    1. secondly, may—
      1. make any changes, or no changes, to the proposed national policy statement as he or she thinks fit; or
        1. withdraw all or part of the proposed national policy statement and give public notice of the withdrawal, including the reasons for the withdrawal; and
        2. thirdly, must undertake an evaluation of the proposed national policy statement in accordance with section 32 and have particular regard to that evaluation when deciding whether to recommend the statement.

          1. The Governor-General in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, approve a national policy statement.

          2. The Minister must, as soon as practicable after a national policy statement has been approved,—

          3. issue the statement by having it published under the Legislation Act 2019; and
            1. publicly notify the statement and the report in whatever form he or she thinks appropriate and send a copy to every local authority; and
              1. provide every person who made a submission on the statement with a summary of the recommendations and a summary of the Minister’s decision on the recommendations (including reasons for not adopting any recommendations).

                  1. A national policy statement under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                  2. That Act applies as if—

                  3. the Minister were the maker of the national policy statement; and
                    1. the national policy statement were made when the Order in Council under subsection (2) is made.

                      Notes
                      • Section 52: replaced, on , by section 22 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23).
                      • Section 52 heading: amended, on , by section 52(1) of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                      • Section 52(1): replaced, on , for all purposes, by section 75 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 63).
                      • Section 52(1): amended, on , by section 44(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 52(1)(a): replaced, on , by section 6 of the Resource Management (Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Repeal and Interim Fast-track Consenting) Act 2023 (2023 No 68).
                      • Section 52(1)(c): amended, on , by section 44(3)(a) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 52(1)(c): amended, on , by section 44(3)(b) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 52(3)(a): replaced, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                      • Section 52(3)(c): replaced, on , by section 52(3) of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                      • Section 52(3)(d): repealed, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                      • Section 52(4): replaced, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                      • Section 52(5): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).