13Referral application

1. A person or persons may apply to use the fast-track approvals process for a project by lodging a referral application with the responsible agency.

2. The referral application—

3. must be lodged in the form and manner approved by the responsible agency; and
4. must be lodged jointly by all of the persons who are proposed to be authorised persons for the project; and
5. must include the information specified in subsection (4); and
6. must specify all of the proposed approvals, but need only provide a general level of detail about each proposed approval, sufficient to inform the Minister's decision on the referral application; and
7. must not be lodged unless any fee, charge, or levy payable under regulations in respect of the application is paid.

8. For each proposed approval,—

9. the applicant must be eligible to apply for any corresponding approval under a specified Act; or
10. if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, the person who is to hold the proposed approval must be a person who would be eligible to apply for any corresponding approval under a specified Act.

11. The information to be included in the referral application is as follows:

    Proposal and effects

12. a description of the project and the activities it involves:
13. an explanation of how the project meets the criteria in section 22:
14. information to demonstrate that the project does not involve any ineligible activities (other than activities that may be the subject of a determination under section 23 or 24):
15. a description or map of the whole project area that identifies its boundaries in sufficient detail to enable consideration of the referral application:
16. the anticipated commencement and completion dates for construction activities (where relevant):
17. a statement of whether the project is planned to proceed in stages and, if so,—
    1. an outline of the nature and timing of the stages; and
    2. a statement of whether a separate substantive application is to be lodged for each of the stages; and
    3. an explanation of how each stage meets the criteria in section 22:
18. a statement of whether a part of the project is proposed as an alternative project in itself and, if so,—
    1. a description of that part of the project; and
    2. an explanation of how that part of the project meets the criteria in section 22:
19. a description of the anticipated and known adverse effects of the project on the environment:
20. a statement of any activities involved in the project that are prohibited activities under the Resource Management Act 1991:

Persons affected

21. a list of the persons and groups the applicant considers are likely to be affected by the project, including—
    1. relevant local authorities:
    2. iwi authorities and groups that represent hapū that are parties to relevant Mana Whakahono ā Rohe or joint management agreements:
    3. other relevant iwi authorities:
    4. relevant Treaty settlement entities:
    5. relevant protected customary rights groups and customary marine title groups:
    6. ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou, if the project area is within or adjacent to, or the project would directly affect, ngā rohe moana o ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou:
    7. relevant applicant groups under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011:
    8. persons with a registered interest in land that may need to be acquired under the Public Works Act 1981:
22. a summary of—
    1. the consultation undertaken for the purposes of section 11 and any other consultation undertaken on the project with the persons and groups referred to in paragraph (j); and
    2. how the consultation has informed the project:
23. a list of any Treaty settlements that apply to the project area, and a summary of the relevant principles and provisions in those settlements:
24. a description of any processes already undertaken under the Public Works Act 1981 in relation to the project:
25. a statement of any relevant principles or provisions in the Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Act 2019:
26. information identifying the parcels of Māori land, marae, and identified wāhi tapu within the project area:

Information relating to activity that may be subject of determination under section 23 or 24

27. a statement of whether the applicant is seeking a determination under section 23 and, if so, an assessment of the effects of the activity on the relevant land and on the rights and interests of Māori in that land:
28. a statement of whether the applicant is seeking a determination under section 24(2) and, if so, a description of—
    1. the scale and adverse effects of the existing electricity infrastructure; and
    2. how, if at all, that scale or those adverse effects are anticipated or known to change as a result of the maintenance, upgrading, or continued operation of the infrastructure:
29. a statement of whether the applicant is seeking a determination under section 24(4) and, if so,—
    1. a description of every alternative site considered by the applicant (or, if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, any of those persons) for the construction and operation of the new electricity lines (the activity); and
    2. for each alternative site considered,—
       1. a statement of the anticipated and known financial cost of undertaking the activity; and
       2. a description of the anticipated and known adverse effects of undertaking the activity; and
       3. a description of the anticipated and known financial cost and practicality of available measures to avoid, remedy, mitigate, offset, or compensate for the anticipated and known adverse effects of the activity; and
       4. a description of any issues (including financial cost) that would make it impractical to undertake the activity on the site; and
       5. an assessment of whether it would be reasonable and practical to undertake the activity on the site, taking into account the matters referred to in subsubparagraphs (A) to (D) and any other relevant matters:

What is needed to complete project

30. a description of the applicant's legal interest (if any), or if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, the legal interest of any of those persons (if any), in the land on which the project will occur, including a statement of how that affects the applicant's ability to undertake the work:
31. an outline of the types of consents, certificates, designations, concessions, and other legal authorisations (other than contractual authorisations or the proposed approvals) that the applicant considers are needed to authorise the project, including any that the applicant considers may be needed by someone other than the applicant:

Other matters

32. whether any activities that are involved in the project, or are substantially the same as those involved in the project, have been the subject of an application or a decision under a specified Act and,—
    1. if an application has been made, details of the application:
    2. if a decision has been made, the outcome of the decision and the reasons for it:
33. a description of whether and how the project would be affected by climate change and natural hazards:
34. if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, a statement of each proposed approval to be held by each of those persons:
35. a summary of compliance or enforcement actions (if any), and the outcome of those actions, taken against the applicant (or if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, any of those persons) under a specified Act:

Matters relating to specific proposed approvals

36. if the proposed approvals include—
    1. an approval described in section 42(4)(a) or (d) (resource consent or designation), the information specified in clause 2 of Schedule 5:
    2. an approval described in section 42(4)(b) (change or cancellation of resource consent condition), the information specified in clause 3 of Schedule 5:
    3. an approval described in section 42(4)(c) (certificate of compliance), the information specified in clause 4 of Schedule 5:
    4. an approval described in section 42(4)(e) (concession), the information specified in clause 2 of Schedule 6:
    5. an approval described in section 42(4)(f) (land exchange), the information specified in clause 23 of Schedule 6:
    6. an approval described in section 42(4)(a) or (d) where the project includes a standard freshwater fisheries activity, or an approval described in section 42(4)(j) (complex freshwater fisheries activity approval), the information specified in clause 2 of Schedule 9:
    7. an approval described in section 42(4)(k) (marine consent), the information specified in clause 2 of Schedule 10:
    8. an approval described in section 42(4)(l) or (m) (access arrangement), the information specified in clause 2 of Schedule 11:
    9. an approval described in section 42(4)(n) (mining permit), the information specified in clause 15 of Schedule 11.

37. The responsible agency must approve a form for referral applications and ensure that it is made available on an internet site that is administered by or on behalf of the responsible agency.

38. In subsection (4)(u), application includes a notice of requirement and any other means by which a decision may be sought under a specified Act.

Compare

• 2020 No 35 s 20
• 2023 No 46 Schedule 10 cl 17(1)–(6)