Section 30 — Resource Management Act 1991: Functions of regional councils under this Act

30 Functions of regional councils under this Act (1) Every regional council shall have the following functions for the purpose of giving effect to this Act in its region: (a) The establishment, implementation, and review of objectives, policies, and methods to achieve integrated management of the natural and physical resources of the region: (b) The preparation of objectives and policies in relation to any actual or potential effects of the use, development, or protection of land which are of regional significance: (c) The control of the use of land for the purpose of— (i) Soil conservation: (ii) The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water in water bodies and coastal water: (iii) The maintenance of the quantity of water in water bodies and coastal water: (iiia) the maintenance and enhancement of ecosystems in water bodies and coastal water: (iv) The avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards: (v) The prevention or mitigation of any adverse effects of the storage, use, disposal, or transportation of hazardous substances: (ca) the investigation of land for the purposes of identifying and monitoring contaminated land: (d) In respect of any coastal marine area in the region, the control (in conjunction with the Minister of Conservation) of— (i) Land and associated natural and physical resources: (ii) The occupation of space on land of the Crown or land vested in the regional council, that is foreshore or seabed, and the extraction of sand, shingle, shell, or other natural material from that land: (iii) The taking, use, damming, and diversion of water: (iv) Discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air, or water and discharges of water into water: (iva) The dumping and incineration of waste or other matter and the dumping of ships, aircraft, and offshore installations: (v) Any actual or potential effects of the use, development, or protection of land, including the avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards and the prevention or mitigation of any adverse effects of the storage, use, disposal, or transportation of hazardous substances: (vi) The emission of noise and the mitigation of the effects of noise: (vii) Activities in relation to the surface of water: (e) The control of the taking, use, damming, and diversion of water, and the control of the quantity, level, and flow of water in any water body, including— (i) The setting of any maximum or minimum levels or flows of water: (ii) The control of the range, or rate of change, of levels or flows of water: (iii) The control of the taking or use of geothermal energy: (f) The control of discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air, or water and discharges of water into water: (fa) if appropriate, the establishment of rules in a regional plan to allocate any of the following: (i) the taking or use of water (other than open coastal water): (ii) the taking or use of heat or energy from water (other than open coastal water): (iii) the taking or use of heat or energy from the material surrounding geothermal water: (iv) the capacity of air or water to assimilate a discharge of a contaminant: (fb) if appropriate, and in conjunction with the Minister of Conservation,— (i) the establishment of rules in a regional coastal plan to allocate the taking or use of heat or energy from open coastal water: (ii) the establishment of a rule in a regional coastal plan to allocate space in a coastal marine area under Part 7A : (g) In relation to any bed of a water body, the control of the introduction or planting of any plant in, on, or under that land, for the purpose of— (i) Soil conservation: (ii) The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water in that water body: (iii) The maintenance of the quantity of water in that water body: (iv) The avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards: (ga) the establishment, implementation, and review of objectives, policies, and methods for maintaining indigenous biological diversity: (gb) the strategic integration of infrastructure with land use through objectives, policies, and methods: (h) Any other functions specified in this Act. (2) A regional council and the Minister of Conservation may perform the functions specified in subsection (1)(d) to control the harvesting or enhancement of aquatic organisms to avoid, remedy, or mitigate— (a) the effects on fishing and fisheries resources of occupying a coastal marine area for the purpose of aquaculture activities: (b) the effects on fishing and fisheries resources of aquaculture activities. (3) However, a regional council and the Minister of Conservation must not perform the functions specified in subsection (1)(d)(i) , (ii) , or (vii) to control the harvesting or enhancement of aquatic organisms for the purpose of conserving, using, enhancing, or developing any fisheries resources controlled under the Fisheries Act 1996 . (4) A rule to allocate a natural resource established by a regional council in a plan under subsection (1)(fa) or (fb) may allocate the resource in any way, subject to the following: (a) the rule may not, during the term of an existing resource consent, allocate the amount of a resource that has already been allocated to the consent; and (b) nothing in paragraph (a) affects section 68(7) ; and (c) the rule may allocate the resource in anticipation of the expiry of existing consents; and (d) in allocating the resource in anticipation of the expiry of existing consents, the rule may— (i) allocate all of the resource used for an activity to the same type of activity; or (ii) allocate some of the resource used for an activity to the same type of activity and the rest of the resource to any other type of activity or no type of activity; and (e) the rule may allocate the resource among competing types of activities; and (f) the rule may allocate water, or heat or energy from water, as long as the allocation does not affect the activities authorised by section 14(3)(b) to (e) . Subsection (1)(c)(iiia) was inserted, as from 1 August 2003, by section 9(1) Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23). See sections 109 to 113 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions. Subsection (1)(ca) was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 11(1) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(d)(ii) was substituted, as from 7 July 1993, by section 21(1) Resource Management Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 65). Subsection (1)(d)(iva) was inserted, as from 20 August 1998, by section 9 Resource Management Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 105). See clause 2 Resource Management Amendment Act 1994 Commencement Order 1998 (SR 1998/209). Subsection (1)(fa) and (fb) was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 11(2) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(ga) was inserted, as from 1 August 2003, by section 9(2) Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23). See sections 109 to 113 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions. Subsection (1)(gb) was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 11(3) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (2) was amended, as from 7 July 1993, by section 21(2) Resource Management Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 65) by substituting the expression “ under subparagraph (i) or subparagraph (ii) or subparagraph (vii) of subsection (1)(d) ” for the expression “ in subsection (1)(d)(i) ” . Subsection (2) was amended, as from 1 October 1996, by section 316(1) Fisheries Act 1996 (1996 No 88) by substituting the words “ use, conserve, enhance, or develop any fisheries resources controlled under the Fisheries Act 1996 ” for the words “ enhance, protect, allocate, or manage any fishery controlled by the Fisheries Act 1983 ” . See clause 2 Fisheries Act Commencement Order (No 2) 1996 (SR 1996/255). Subsection (2) was amended, as from 23 June 1998, by section 37 Fisheries (Remedial Issues) Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 67) by omitting the word “ conserve, ” . Subsection (2) was substituted, as from 1 January 2005, by section 7 Resource Management Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 103). Subsection (3) was inserted, as from 1 January 2005, by section 7 Resource Management Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 103). Subsection (4) was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 11(4) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions.