Resource Management Act 1991

139 Consent authorities and Environmental Protection Authority to issue certificates of compliance

• (1) This section applies if an activity could be done lawfully in a particular location without a resource consent.

  (2) A person may request the consent authority to issue a certificate of compliance.

  (3) A certificate states that the activity can be done lawfully in a particular location without a resource consent.

  (4) The authority may require the person to provide further information if the authority considers that the information is necessary for the purpose of applying subsection (5).

  (5) The authority must issue the certificate if—

  • (a) the activity can be done lawfully in the particular location without a resource consent; and

  • (b) the person pays the appropriate administrative charge.

  (6) The authority must issue the certificate within 20 working days of the later of the following:

  • (a) the date on which it received the request:

  • (b) the date on which it received the further information under subsection (4).

  (7) The certificate issued to the person must—

  • (a) describe the activity and the location; and

  • (b) state that the activity can be done lawfully in the particular location without a resource consent as at the date on which the authority received the request.

  (8) The authority must not issue a certificate if—

  • (a) the request for a certificate is made after a proposed plan is notified; and

  • (b) the activity could not be done lawfully in the particular location without a resource consent under the proposed plan.

  (9) Sections 357A and 357C to 358 apply to a request for a certificate.

  (10) A certificate is treated as if it were an appropriate resource consent that—

  • (a) contains the conditions specified in an applicable national environmental standard; and

  • (b) contains the conditions specified in an applicable plan.

  (11) A certificate treated as a resource consent is subject to sections 10, 10A, and 20A(2).

  (12) A certificate treated as a resource consent is subject to this Act as if it were a resource consent, except that the only sections in this Part that apply to it are sections 120, 121, 122, 125, 134, 135, 136, and 137.

  (13) If an activity relates to a matter that is or is part of a proposal of national significance for which a direction has been made under section 142(2) or 147(1)(a) or (b), a person may request a certificate from the Environmental Protection Authority and this section applies with the following modifications:

  • (a) a reference to a consent authority is to be treated as a reference to the EPA; and

  • (b) subsection (5)(b) does not apply; and

  • (c) the EPA may recover its actual and reasonable costs of dealing with the request from the person making the request.

  (14) In this section, activity includes a particular proposal.

  Section 139: substituted, on 1 October 2009, by section 99 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).