Robin becomes Batman – EPA gets more grunt

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) will get a change of status and a lot more grunt under legislation now before Parliament.

This Brief Counsel examines the proposed changes.

The EPA came into existence on 1 October last year as an office within the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) tasked with managing and administering the new call-in processes for "nationally significant" projects under the Resource Management Act (RMA).

But from these modest beginnings, the Government's intention was always that the EPA would become a 'one-stop shop' for environmental regulation. Hence the Environmental Protection Authority Bill (the Bill), which went through its first reading in the House this week. The Bill establishes the EPA as stand-alone Crown entity and substantially increases its remit.