Delay for National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management

National Policy Statements [NPS] have been provided for in the Resource Management Act [RMA] since its enactment in 1991. A NPS on Freshwater Management has been in preparation since 2006.  In 2008 a Board of Enquiry was set up to report to the Minister for the Environment on a proposed NPS.  The Board, chaired by Alternate Environment Court Judge David Sheppard, reported to the Minister on 28 January 2010 and provided a revised NPS.  The Minister has decided to not “make any national level decisions on fresh water until the Land and Water Forum reports back in June 2010.” [See Comment 25 Feb. 2010]  The Board report also notes [S. 122] that: “by the end of the hearing of submissions on the proposed NPS, and by the time this report was prepared, the report of the Board of Inquiry on the review of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement had not been published; the report of the Board of Inquiry into the proposed National Policy Statement on Renewable Electricity Generation had not been published; the legislation to adopt the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River had not been passed; and the processes on the proposed National Environmental Standard on Ecological Flows and Water Levels had not been completed.”
Source: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/central/nps/freshwater-management.html