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Natural Environment Bill

Enforcement and other matters - Enforcement - Penalties

284: Liability and defences for discharging harmful substances

You could also call this:

"Defending yourself if you're accused of releasing harmful substances into the environment"

Illustration for Natural Environment Bill

If you are charged with letting harmful substances into the environment, you don't have to be proven to have done it on purpose. You can defend yourself if you can prove the substance was released to keep a ship or offshore installation safe, or to save a life. You must show that releasing the substance was a reasonable thing to do in that situation. If a harmful substance escapes because something is damaged, you can defend yourself if the damage was not your fault. You must also show that you took all reasonable steps to stop the substance escaping as soon as you could. This includes trying to minimise the amount of substance that escapes if you can't stop it completely. You can use these defences if you are charged under section 278(3), which is about releasing harmful substances into the environment. This is related to section 23, which says you must not release these substances. You can look at these sections to understand more about what you can and can't do.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1530168.

This page was last updated on 14 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationCrime and justice > Criminal law

283: Liability and defences in relation to dumping and incineration of waste or other matter in coastal marine area, or

"Rules about being responsible for dumping waste in coastal areas"

285: Burden of proving defences, or

"Proving you are not guilty: your responsibility"

Part 6Enforcement and other matters
Enforcement: Penalties

284Liability and defences for discharging harmful substances

In any prosecution for an offence against section 278(3) (which relates to the discharge of harmful substances, contaminants, or water, in breach of section 23), it is not necessary to prove that the defendant intended to commit the offence.
It is a defence to prosecution for an offence against section 278(3) if the defendant proves that—
the harmful substance or contaminant or water was discharged for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or an offshore installation, or for the purpose of saving life, and that the discharge was a reasonable step to effect that purpose; or
the harmful substance or contaminant or water escaped as a consequence of damage to a ship or its equipment or to an offshore installation or its equipment; and—
1. such damage occurred without the negligence or deliberate act of the defendant; and
2. as soon as practicable after that damage occurred, all reasonable steps were taken to prevent the escape of the harmful substance or contaminant or water or, if any such escape could not be prevented, to minimise any escape.