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Resource Management Act 1991

Enforcement functions of EPA

343I: EPA enforcement officers

You could also call this:

“People chosen by the EPA to help keep the environment safe and enforce the law”

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) can choose someone to be an enforcement officer to help carry out its jobs under this Act. You can be an enforcement officer if you have the right experience and qualifications for the job, or if you work for the EPA and have the right training. The EPA will give you a special card, called a warrant, that says who you are and what powers you have.

When you are an enforcement officer, you can only use your powers for the reasons you were appointed. You must always carry your warrant and proof of who you are, and show them if someone asks. If you stop being an enforcement officer, you must give your warrant back to the EPA. You can find more information about this in the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020.

The EPA makes sure you have the right warrant and training to do your job as an enforcement officer.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS376982.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Conservation Government and voting > Government departments
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343H: EPA may change enforcement functions, or

"The EPA can switch its job to a different one if it thinks it needs to for a certain problem."

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343J: EPA may require information from local authority, or

"The EPA can ask local councils for information to help them deal with problems."

Part 12A Enforcement functions of EPA

343IEPA enforcement officers

  1. The EPA may authorise a person described in subsection (2) to be an enforcement officer for the purpose of carrying out its enforcement functions under this Act.

  2. A person may be authorised as an enforcement officer if the person—

  3. has appropriate experience, technical competence, and qualifications relevant to the area of responsibilities proposed to be allocated to the person; or
    1. is an employee of the EPA who is suitably qualified and trained.

      1. The EPA must supply each enforcement officer with a warrant that—

      2. states the full name of the person; and
        1. includes a summary of the powers conferred on the person under this Act.

          1. An enforcement officer may exercise the powers under this Act, in accordance with his or her warrant, only for the purposes for which he or she was appointed.

          2. An enforcement officer exercising a power under this Act must have with him or her, and must produce if required to do so, his or her warrant and evidence of his or her identity.

          3. An enforcement officer who holds a warrant issued under this section must, on the termination of the officer’s appointment, surrender the warrant to the EPA.

          Compare
          Notes
          • Section 343I: inserted, on , by section 96 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).