Chapman Tripp
Added: May 23, 2012
The Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Bill will be changed as a result of the select committee process – but whether it will be stronger (and for whom) or clearer is debatable.
The most significant change is the removal of the specific requirement that marine consents can be granted only where the activity’s contribution to New Zealand’s economic development outweighs the adverse environmental effects.
What that might mean in practice is, however, difficult to gauge and may become clear only through legal challenge to the High Court on marine consents.
The purpose of the Bill is to “achieve a balance between the protection of the environment and economic development in relation to activities in the exclusive economic zone and in or on the continental shelf”.
The purpose has remained unchanged although a number of submitters, and the Opposition parties, sought amendments to align it with the Resource Management Act’s purpose of sustainable management.