Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand’s primary production select committee has recommended changes to a central freshwater policy, section 107 of the Resource Management Act, allowing councils to grant consents for waste discharges into polluted waterways if plans for future improvements are in place.
These changes were added to a bill that did not originally mention section 107, leading to criticism from environmental groups about the lack of public scrutiny.
Industry groups, concerned about the impact of a recent court ruling, sought amendments to the policy, which the committee accepted.
However, Forest & Bird raised concerns during the submission process but were advised by the committee chair to hold off on commenting as the issue was deemed out of scope.
Despite this, the final report included the proposed changes.
Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy said that the ruling had set a precedent for stricter compliance with section 107, stating,
“It just highlights the failure of the councils to do their job.”
Labour’s environment spokesperson, Rachel Brooking, said it as “an exceptionally poor process to make legislative changes without full analysis.”
