66Avoiding breach of environmental limit

1. A regional council must avoid breaching an environmental limit.

2. A regional council must evaluate the likelihood of a limit being breached if—

3. there is sufficient evidence that the limit is likely to be breached in the medium to long term future; or
4. there are activities authorised under this Act or other legislation that—
   1. are carried out within a management unit; and
   2. are likely to give rise to a breach of the limit.

5. If a regional council is satisfied that a breach of an environmental limit is likely to occur, the council must—

6. take action to avoid the breach by preparing an action plan or changing its natural environment plan; and
7. take any other action the council considers necessary to avoid breaching the environmental limit, including—
   1. making or changing a cap on resource use:
   2. preparing or changing a rule in a natural environment plan:
   3. reviewing the conditions (specified in the plan) that apply to natural resource permits and making any necessary adjustments:
   4. establishing a safety margin within environmental limits (to account for uncertainties, natural variability, errors, or unexpected events):
   5. widening that safety margin:
   6. changing the way that natural resources are allocated.

8. In this section, sufficient evidence includes—

9. evidence of trends in the state of the natural environment over time; or
10. forecasts informed by modelling or evaluation.