Key Issues Report Plan Change 8 to the Regional Plan: Water for Otago and Plan Change 1 to the Regional Plan: Waste for Otago (The Omnibus Plan Change) Appendices Appendix A: Minster’s direction matter to be called in to the environment court Appendix B: Letter from EPA commissioning the report Appendix C: Minister’s letter in response to the Skelton report Appendix D: Skelton report Appendix E: ORC’s letter in responding to the Minister with work programme Appendix F: Relevant sections of the Regional Plan: Water for Otago Appendix G: Relevant sections of the Regional Plan: Waste for Otago Appendix H: Relevant provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 Appendix I: National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 Appendix J: Relevant provisions of the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater 2020 Appendix K: Relevant provisions of the Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020 Appendix L: Relevant provisions of Otago Regional Council Plans and Regional Policy Statements Appendix M: Relevant provisions of Iwi management plans APPENDIX A Ministerial direction to refer the Otago Regional Council’s proposed Omnibus Plan Change to its Regional Plans to the Environment Court Having had regard to all the relevant factors, I consider that the matters requested to be called in by Otago Regional Council (ORC), being the proposed Omnibus Plan Change (comprised of Water Plan Change 8 – Discharge Management, and Waste Plan Change 1 – Dust Suppressants and Landfills) to its relevant regional plans are part of a proposal of national significance. Under section 142(2) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), I direct those matters to be referred to the Environment Court for decision. My reasons are as follows: National Significance I consider the matters are part of a proposal of national significance having given regard to the following relevant factors in section 142(3) of the RMA: a) The issues the plan changes aim to address have aroused widespread public concern or interest regarding their actual or likely effect on the environment, as indicated by the Skelton Investigation; b) The plan changes involve or are likely to involve the significant use of natural and physical resources while managing the impact of that use on the environment; c) The plan changes affect or are likely to affect areas of national significance noting that Otago freshwater catchments provide a habitat for a suite of nationally important non-migratory Galaxias taxas; d) The plan changes are part of the ORC’s programme to give effect to the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management; e) Failure to implement the plan changes has the potential to result in significant and irreversible changes to the environment; f) The plan changes are or are likely to be significant in terms of section 8 of the RMA given they are likely to be of high interest to Iwi because of the significance of freshwater management to Māori; and g) The plan changes will affect more than one district given that they will apply across the whole Otago region. Direction to the Environment Court I direct that the proposed Omnibus Plan Change be referred to the Environment Court for decision because: a) Calling in the related plan changes as parts of a proposal of national significance for a decision at the same time would: i. assist the Otago Regional Council by allowing its staff to focus on developing a new Land and Water Regional Plan; and ii. avoid potential delays associated with the Schedule 1 process of the RMA that could complicate the development of a new Land and Water Regional Plan. b) The current COVID-19 situation would make the appointment of suitable members to a board of inquiry difficult in a short timeframe whereas the Environment Court process would provide surety in terms of progressing a decision on the matters. Page 1 of 2 In reaching my decision I considered: a) The Environmental Protection Authority recommendation that I refer the matters to the Environment Court; b) The views of the Otago Regional Council, being the applicant and the relevant local authority that would have processed and decided the matters if I had not directed that they be referred to the Environment Court for decision; and c) The capacity of the Otago Regional Council to process the matters. Dated at Auckland this 8th day of April 2020 Hon David Parker Minister for the Environment Page 2 of 2 APPENDIX B File ref: NSP 45 15 September 2020 Gwyneth Elsum General Manager, Strategy, Policy and Science Private Bag 63002 Otago Regional Council Wellington 6140, New Zealand Private Bag 1954 Level 10, Grant Thornton House Dunedin 9054 215 Lambton Quay New Zealand Wellington 6011, New Zealand epa.govt.nz +64 4 916 2426 By email: [email protected]; [email protected] Dear Ms Elsum Omnibus Plan Change – Section 149G(3) Report Further to our letter of 1 July 2020, the purpose of this letter is to formally commission the Otago Regional Council to prepare a Key Issue Report under section 149G(3) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) for the Omnibus Plan Change. The scope for the report is outlined below and has been informed by discussions with Judge Borthwick, Philip Maw and Peter Constantine: Scope of Key Issues Report Pursuant to section 149G(3) of the Resource Management Act 1991, the EPA commissions the Otago Regional Council to prepare a report on the key issues in relation to Plan Change 8 (Discharge Management) to the Regional Plan: Water for Otago and Plan Change 1 (Dust Suppressants and Landfills) to the Regional Plan: Waste for Otago (Omnibus Plan Change) that includes: A summary of the state of the environment in the Otago Region as it relates to the Omnibus Plan Change; A summary of the current planning framework in the Otago Region as it relates to the Omnibus Plan Change; A description of the resource management issue(s) presented by the state of the environment and current planning framework that needs to be resolved; A summary of the higher order planning and policy instruments relevant to the Omnibus Plan Change with a list of the relevant provisions of any relevant national policy statement, New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, national planning standard, regional policy statement or proposed regional policy statement, plan or proposed plan to be appended to the report. NB: Where relevant, this section should include the section 24A (RMA) recommendations made by the Minister for the Environment - (18 November 2019) and agreed to by ORC (16 December 2019), and instruments that have come into effect after preparation of the plan change, such as: o National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) - came into effect 3 September 2020 o National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NESF) - came into effect 3 September 2020 (except for some exceptions that have later deadlines) o Freshwater Planning Process (FPP) - came into effect via Section 80A of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 on 30 June 2020; and A description of the solution proposed by the Omnibus Plan Change. Please contact Jillian Kennemore on mobile: 027 641 7250 or by email [email protected] if you have any questions. Yours sincerely Terry Calmeyer Acting Manager Land and Oceans Applications - Regulatory Systems and Operational Policy 2 APPENDIX C APAPPENDIX D Investigation of Freshwater Management and Allocation Functions at Otago Regional Council Report to the Minister for the Environment by Professor Peter Skelton CNZM; D.Nat.Res (Hon); LLB; FEIANZ 1 October 2019 Acknowledgements Peter Skelton wishes to acknowledge the considerable assistance he has received from Ministry for the Environment officials Robert McClean, Carly O’Connor and Rowan Taylor in both the investigation work and the preparation of this report. This document may be cited as: Skelton, Peter (2019) Investigation of Freshwater Management and Allocation Functions at Otago Regional Council - Report to the Minister for the Environment. Wellington: Ministry for the Environment. Cover photo: Falls Dam and the Hawkdun Range, Central Otago (R McClean, 25 June 2019) Published (publication details to be confirmed) Ministry for the Environment Manatū Mō Te Taiao PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143, New Zealand ISBN: ISBN print version (print) ISBN online version (online) Publication number: MfE – to be confirmed © Crown copyright New Zealand 2019 This document is to be made available on the Ministry for the Environment website: www.mfe.govt.nz. iii iv Contents Executive Summary 7 Introduction 9 Deemed permits 14 Overview of the Otago planning framework 17 The Otago Regional Policy Statement 18 Regional Plan: Water for Otago 21 Current Council capacity and capability 26 Kāi Tahu perspectives 29 Stakeholder perspectives 31 Findings and recommendations 34 Recommendations 38 Appendix 1 40 Letter of Engagement 40 Appendix 2 41 Letter of extension 41 Appendix 3 42 Terms of Reference for Section 24A Investigation of Otago Regional Council Performance under the Resource Management Act 1991 42 Appendix 4 44 The list of interviewees 44 Appendix 4 45 The list of interviewees - continued 45 Appendix 5 46 History of regulation – the Otago mining privileges 46 Mining Privileges under the RMA 53 Extract from Rules and Regulations of the Otago Goldfields 1862 55 Appendix 6 59 Summary of the state of the freshwater environment for the Manuherekia, Arrow, Cardrona, and Taieri catchments 59 v Appendix 7 Regional Plan: Water 73 6 Executive Summary The Otago region is at a critical juncture for freshwater planning. Existing planning provisions to manage freshwater are inadequate and the expiry of the Otago mining privileges (deemed permits) is only two years away. There are also growing challenges for the state of the freshwater resource in Otago in view of the high level of water abstraction and the significant alteration of natural flows, ecosystems and habitat for indigenous flora and fauna.