Resource Management Act 1991
Sections and provisions with full text and the judgments that cite each one.
Section 19 — Certain rules in proposed plans to be operative
19 Certain rules in proposed plans to be operative (1) A rule in a proposed plan is to be treated as if it is operative and any previous rule is inoperative if the time for making submissions or…
Section 20 — Certain rules in proposed plans not to have effect
20 Certain rules in proposed plans not to have effect (1) A local authority may, before publicly notifying a proposed plan, resolve that any rule in the plan does not have effect until the plan…
Section 20A — Certain existing lawful activities allowed
20A Certain existing lawful activities allowed (1) If, as a result of a rule in a proposed regional plan being notified, an activity requires a resource consent, the activity may continue until the…
Section 21 — Avoiding unreasonable delay
21 Avoiding unreasonable delay Every person who exercises or carries out functions, powers, or duties, or is required to do anything, under this Act for which no time limits are prescribed shall do…
Section 22 — Duty to give certain information
22 Duty to give certain information Where any enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is breaching or has breached any of the obligations under this Part, the enforcement…
Section 23 — Other legal requirements not affected
23 Other legal requirements not affected (1) Compliance with this Act does not remove the need to comply with all other applicable Acts, regulations, bylaws, and rules of law. (2) The duties and…
Section 24 — Functions of Minister for the Environment
24 Functions of Minister for the Environment The Minister for the Environment shall have the following functions under this Act: (a) The recommendation of the issue of national policy statements…
Section 24A — Power of Minister for the Environment to investigate and make recommendations
24A Power of Minister for the Environment to investigate and make recommendations The Minister for the Environment may— (a) investigate the exercise or performance by a local authority of any of its…
Section 25 — Residual powers of Minister for the Environment
25 Residual powers of Minister for the Environment (1) Where any local authority is not exercising or performing any of its functions, powers, or duties under this Act to the extent that the Minister…
Section 25A — Minister may direct preparation of plan, change, or variation
25A Minister may direct preparation of plan, change, or variation (1) The Minister for the Environment— (a) may direct a regional council— (i) to prepare a regional plan that addresses a resource…
Section 26 — Minister may make grants and loans
26 Minister may make grants and loans (1) The Minister for the Environment may make grants and loans on such conditions as he or she thinks fit to any person to assist in achieving the purpose of…
Section 27 — Minister may require local authorities to supply information
27 Minister may require local authorities to supply information (1) The Minister for the Environment may require the bodies described in subsection (2) to supply the information described in…
Section 28 — Functions of Minister of Conservation
28 Functions of Minister of Conservation The Minister of Conservation shall have the following functions under this Act: (a) The preparation and recommendation of New Zealand coastal policy…
Section 28A — Information to be supplied to Minister of Conservation
28A Information to be supplied to Minister of Conservation Any regional council requested by the Minister of Conservation to supply information to the Minister relating to the monitoring by the…
Section 29 — Delegation of functions by Ministers
29 Delegation of functions by Ministers (1) Any Minister of the Crown may, either generally or particularly, delegate to the chief executive of that Minister's department in accordance with section…
Section 30 — 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,…
Section 31 — Functions of territorial authorities under this Act
31 Functions of territorial authorities under this Act (1) Every territorial authority shall have the following functions for the purpose of giving effect to this Act in its district: (a) The…
Section 31A — Minister of Conservation to have certain powers of local authority
31A Minister of Conservation to have certain powers of local authority (1) The Minister of Conservation— (a) has, in respect of the coastal marine areas of the Kermadec Islands, the Snares Islands,…
Section 32 — Consideration of alternatives, benefits, and costs
32 Consideration of alternatives, benefits, and costs (1) In achieving the purpose of this Act, before a proposed plan, proposed policy statement, change, or variation is publicly notified, a…
Section 32A — Failure to carry out evaluation
32A Failure to carry out evaluation (1) A challenge to an objective, policy, rule, or other method on the ground that section 32 has not been complied with may be made only in a submission under…
Section 33 — Transfer of powers
33 Transfer of powers (1) A local authority may transfer any one or more of its functions, powers, or duties under this Act, except this power of transfer, to another public authority in accordance…
Section 34 — Delegation of functions, etc, by local authorities
34 Delegation of functions, etc, by local authorities (1) A local authority may delegate to any committee of the local authority established in accordance with the Local Government Act 2002 any of…
Section 34A — Delegation of powers and functions to employees and other persons
34A Delegation of powers and functions to employees and other persons (1) A local authority may delegate to an employee, or hearings commissioner appointed by the local authority (who may or may not…
Section 35 — Duty to gather information, monitor, and keep records
35 Duty to gather information, monitor, and keep records (1) Every local authority shall gather such information, and undertake or commission such research, as is necessary to carry out effectively…
Section 35A — Duty to keep records about iwi and hapu
35A Duty to keep records about iwi and hapu (1) For the purposes of this Act, a local authority must keep and maintain, for each iwi and hapu within its region or district, a record of— (a) the…
Section 36 — Administrative charges
36 Administrative charges (1) A local authority may from time to time, subject to subsection (2) , fix charges of all or any of the following kinds: (a) Charges payable by applicants for the…
Section 36A — No duty under this Act to consult about resource consent applications and notices of requirement
36A No duty under this Act to consult about resource consent applications and notices of requirement (1) The following apply to an applicant for a resource consent and the local authority: (a)…
Section 36B — Power to make joint management agreement
36B Power to make joint management agreement (1) A local authority that wants to make a joint management agreement must— (a) notify the Minister that it wants to do so; and (b) satisfy itself— (i)…
Section 36C — Local authority may act by itself under joint management agreement
36C Local authority may act by itself under joint management agreement (1) This section applies when a joint management agreement requires the parties to it to perform or exercise a specified…
Section 36D — Effect of joint management agreement
36D Effect of joint management agreement A decision made under a joint management agreement has effect as a decision of the local authority. Sections 36A to 36E were inserted, as from 10 August 2005,…
Section 36E — Termination of joint management agreement
36E Termination of joint management agreement Any party to a joint management agreement may terminate that agreement by giving the other parties 20 working days' notice. Sections 36A to 36E were…
Section 37 — Power of waiver and extension of time limits
37 Power of waiver and extension of time limits (1) A consent authority or local authority may, in any particular case,— (a) extend a time period specified in this Act or in regulations, whether or…
Section 37A — Requirements for waivers and extensions
37A Requirements for waivers and extensions (1) A consent authority or local authority must not extend a time limit or waive compliance with a time limit, a method of service, or the service of a…
Section 37B — Persons to have powers of consent authority for purposes of sections 37 and 37A
37B Persons to have powers of consent authority for purposes of sections 37 and 37A The following bodies have the powers of a consent authority under sections 37 and 37A for the following matters:…
Section 38 — Authorisation and responsibilities of enforcement officers
38 Authorisation and responsibilities of enforcement officers (1) A local authority may authorise— (a) Any of its officers; or (b) Any of the officers of any other local authority, or of the new…
Section 39 — Hearings to be public and without unnecessary formality
39 Hearings to be public and without unnecessary formality (1) Where a local authority, a consent authority, or a person given authority to conduct hearings under any of sections 33 , 34 , 34A , 117…
Section 39A — Accreditation
39A Accreditation The Minister must— (a) approve a qualification or qualifications establishing a person's accreditation; and (b) notify each qualification in the Gazette . Section 39A was inserted,…
Section 39B — Persons who may be given hearing authority
39B Persons who may be given hearing authority (1) This section applies when a local authority wants to apply any of sections 33 , 34 , and section 34A to give authority to 1 person or a group of…
Section 39C — Effect of lack of accreditation
39C Effect of lack of accreditation (1) This section applies when a local authority purports to give authority under section 39B to a person or group of persons, but does not in fact give it because…
Section 40 — Persons who may be heard at a hearing
40 Persons who may be heard at a hearing (1) At any hearing described in section 39 , the applicant, and every person who has made a submission and stated that they wished to be heard at the hearing,…
Section 41 — Provisions relating to hearings
41 Provisions relating to hearings (1) The following provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 apply to every hearing conducted by a local authority, a consent authority, or a person given…
Section 41A — Control of hearings
41A Control of hearings An authority conducting a hearing on a matter described in section 39(1) may exercise a power under section 41B or section 41C , after considering whether the scale and…
Section 41B — Directions to provide evidence within time limits
41B Directions to provide evidence within time limits (1) The authority may direct the applicant to provide briefs of evidence to the authority before the hearing. (2) The applicant must provide the…
Section 41C — Directions and requests before or at hearings
41C Directions and requests before or at hearings (1) Before or at the hearing, the authority may— (a) direct the order of business at the hearing, including the order in which evidence and…
Section 42 — Protection of sensitive information
42 Protection of sensitive information (1) A local authority may, on its own motion or on the application of any party to any proceedings or class of proceedings, make an order described in…
Section 42A — Reports to local authority
42A Reports to local authority (1) At any reasonable time before a hearing or, if no hearing is to be held, before the decision is made, a local authority may require an officer of a local authority…
Section 43 — Regulations prescribing national environmental standards
43 Regulations prescribing national environmental standards (1) The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations, to be known as national environmental standards, that prescribe any or…
Section 43A — Additional powers to implement national environmental standards
43A Additional powers to implement national environmental standards (1) National environmental standards may— (a) prohibit an activity: (b) allow an activity: (c) restrict the making of a rule or the…
Section 43B — Relationship between national environmental standards and rules or consents
43B Relationship between national environmental standards and rules or consents (1) A rule or resource consent that is more stringent than a national environmental standard prevails over the…
Section 43C — Relationship between national environmental standards and water conservation orders
43C Relationship between national environmental standards and water conservation orders (1) A water conservation order that is more stringent than a national environmental standard applying to water…