A new National Environmental Standard for Assessing and
Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health
(NES) will take effect from 1 January 2012.
This Brief Counsel considers the key features of the NES
and its implications.
Scope of the new NES
The NES creates a nationally consistent set of planning controls
and soil contaminant standards. In some districts, these
controls will be stricter than current territorial authority
requirements while, in others, they may be more lenient.
The NES overrides district plan rules and can affect any new
notice of requirement for a designation or alteration to
designation, application for resource consent or a review of
existing resource consent conditions. It appears from the NES
that it is not intended to affect regional plan rules relating to
contamination or discharges.
