Section 46A — Resource Management Act 1991: Minister chooses process

46A Minister chooses process (1) After preparing a proposed national policy statement under sections 45 and 46 , the Minister must— (a) use the process set out in sections 47 to 52 ; or (b) establish, and then use, a process that— (i) gives the public adequate time and opportunity to make a submission on the statement; and (ii) requires a report and recommendations to be made to the Minister on the submissions and the subject matter of the statement; and (iii) incorporates sections 51 and 52 as if their references to a board of inquiry were references to the person who prepares the report and recommendations. (2) When choosing between subsection (1)(a) and subsection (1)(b) , the Minister may consider the following matters: (a) the advantages and disadvantages of having the proposed national policy statement made quickly: (b) the extent to which the policy in the proposed national policy statement differs from the policies in— (i) other national policy statements; and (ii) regional policy statements; and (iii) regional or district plans: (c) the extent and timing of public debate and public consultation that took place on the policy before the proposed national policy statement was prepared: (d) any other relevant matter. (3) The Minister must not choose a process established under subsection (1)(b) if the proposed national policy statement includes a provision of the kind described in section 55(2A)(b) . (4) A national policy statement prepared after the use of a process established under subsection (1)(b) is a regulation for the purposes of the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989 , but is not a regulation for the purposes of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 . Section 46A was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 32 Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions.