The Environmental Protection Authority established by section 42B of the Resource Management Act 1991 is disestablished.

(1) On and from the commencement of section 22,—

• (a) all information held by the former EPA is held by the EPA; and

• (b) all money payable to or by the former EPA becomes payable to or by the EPA; and

• (c) all rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of the former EPA become the rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of the EPA; and

• (d) all directions to the former EPA in effect immediately before the commencement of this section become directions to the EPA; and

• (e) any delegation to the former EPA by the Minister under section 29(4) of the Resource Management Act 1991 that is in effect immediately before the commencement of this section has effect as if it were a delegation to the EPA; and

• (f) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by, or in relation to, the former EPA is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (g) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings by or against the former EPA may instead be carried out by or against the EPA without amendment to the proceedings; and

• (h) a matter or thing that would, but for this section, have been completed by the former EPA may be completed by the EPA.

(2) The transfer of information from the former EPA to the EPA under subsection (1)(a) does not constitute an action that is an interference with the privacy of an individual under section 66 of the Privacy Act 1993.

(3) On and from the commencement of section 22, property owned by the Ministry for the Environment solely or principally for the purposes of the former EPA and identified as such by the chief executive of the Ministry is vested in the EPA.

Unless the context otherwise requires, in any enactment, agreement, deed, instrument, application, notice, or other document in force immediately before the commencement of section 22, every reference to the Environmental Protection Authority or EPA established by the Resource Management Act 1991 is, on and from that commencement, to be read as a reference to the Environmental Protection Authority established by section 6.

The Environmental Risk Management Authority is disestablished.

Every committee appointed by ERMA under clause 43 of Schedule 1 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 is disestablished.

Nga Kaihautu Tikanga Taiao is disestablished.

The Crown is not liable to make a payment to, or otherwise compensate, any person in relation to the person's ceasing to be a member of ERMA or Nga Kaihautu Tikanga Taiao because of the disestablishment of ERMA or Nga Kaihautu Tikanga Taioa Taiao.

(1) On and from the commencement of section 25,—

• (a) the functions, duties, and powers of ERMA under any enactment become the functions, duties, and powers of the EPA; and

• (b) the property belonging to ERMA vests in the EPA; and

• (c) all information held by ERMA is held by the EPA; and

• (d) all money payable to or by ERMA becomes payable to or by the EPA; and

• (e) all rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of ERMA become the rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of the EPA; and

• (f) all directions to ERMA in effect immediately before the commencement of this section become directions to the EPA; and

• (g) any delegation by ERMA to the chief executive of ERMA that is in effect immediately before the commencement of this section has effect as if it were a delegation by the EPA to the EPA's chief executive; and

• (h) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by, or in relation to, ERMA is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (i) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings by or against ERMA may instead be carried out by or against to EPA without amendment to the proceedings; and

• (j) a matter or thing that would, but for this section, have been completed by ERMA may be completed by the EPA.

(2) The transfer of information from ERMA to the EPA under subsection (1)(c) does not constitute an action that is an interference with the privacy of an individual under section 66 of the Privacy Act 1993.

(3) This section applies subject to section 31.

(1) The following delegations continue in effect as if they were made by the EPA:

• (a) any delegation by ERMA under section 19(2)(b) of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 to a committee continued under section 31(2) of this Act for the purposes of an application to which section 31(1) of this Act applies; and

• (b) any other delegation by ERMA under section 19(2) of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 that is in effect immediately before the commencement of section 25 of this Act.

(2) However, a delegation to a member of ERMA or a number of people including a member of ERMA, other than a delegation to which subsection (1)(a) applies, is revoked on the commencement of section 25 of this Act.

(3) To avoid doubt, the EPA may revoke a delegation continued under subsection (1).

(1) This section applies to—

• (a) an application made under Part 5 or 6A of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 that has not been determined before the commencement of section 25 of this Act but for which—

  • (i) a hearing date has been fixed under section 59(1)(d) of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 or a hearing has been commenced or held; or;

  • (ii) a date for consideration of the application has been fixed under section 59(1)(d) of that Act, or consideration has commenced; and

• (b) the committee appointed by ERMA under clause 43 of Schedule 1 of that Act to hear and decide the application.

(2) Despite sections 25, 26, and 29 of this Act, the application must be decided by the committee, and for that purpose only the committee—

• (a) continues in existence as if it were a committee appointed by the EPA; and

• (b) continues to have all the necessary powers and functions delegated to it under section 19(2)(b) of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996.

(3) However, if the EPA revokes the delegation referred to in subsection (2)(b), the committee ceases to exist.

(4) The decision of the committee is to be treated as a decision of the EPA.

(1) The EPA may appoint additional members to a committee continued under section 31.

(2) A committee continued under section 31(2)(a) ceases to exist on the earlier of—

• (a) the day after the date on which the last application to be decided by the committee is decided; or

• (b) the date on which the committee receives written notice of the EPA's revocation of the delegation in accordance with section 76 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

(3) To avoid doubt, a continued committee need not include a member of the EPA.

(1) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the commencement of section 25, the EPA must arrange for the final report of ERMA to be delivered to the Minister.

(2) The final report must—

• (a) describe ERMA's operations for the period beginning on 1 July 2010 and ending immediately before the date on which section 25 commences; and

• (b) include financial statements for ERMA, prepared in accordance with section 154 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, for that period.

(3) Sections 155 and 156 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 apply to the financial statements.

(4) The Minister must present a copy of the report to the House of Representatives under section 150(3) of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

Unless the context otherwise requires, in any enactment, agreement, deed, instrument, application, notice, or other document in force immediately before the commencement of section 25, every reference to the Environmental Risk Management Authority or ERMA is, on and from that commencement, to be read as a reference to the EPA.

(1) The EPA and the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment may agree to transfer the following employees of the Ministry to the EPA:

• (a) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the functions of the former EPA; and

• (b) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the chief executive's functions under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 4 of this Act; and

• (c) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the Minister for the Environment's functions under the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5A of this Act; and

• (d) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the Minister for the Environment's functions under the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5B of this Act.

(2) The EPA and the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development may agree to transfer the following employees of the Ministry to the EPA:

• (a) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the chief executive's functions under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 4 of this Act; and

• (b) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the Minister of Commerce's functions under the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5A of this Act; and

• (c) an employee whose employment at the Ministry relates to the Minister of Commerce's functions under the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 that become functions of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5B of this Act.

(3) The EPA and the chief executive of the Ministry that employs the employee must consult the employee concerned before deciding whether to transfer an employee from the Ministry to the EPA.

(4) An employee transferred under subsection (1)(a) becomes an employee of the EPA on the commencement of section 22 of this Act.

(5) An employee transferred under subsection (1)(b) or (2)(a) becomes an employee of the EPA on the commencement of Part 4.

(6) An employee transferred under subsection (1)(c) or (2)(b) becomes an employee of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5A.

(7) An employee transferred under subsection (1)(d) or (2)(c) becomes an employee of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5B.

(1) This section applies to an employee transferred to the EPA under section 35.

(2) The employee must be employed on terms and conditions no less favourable to the employee than those applying to the employee immediately before the date of the employee's transfer to the EPA.

(3) Subsection (2) continues to apply to an employee's terms and conditions of employment until the terms and conditions are varied by agreement between the employee and the EPA.

(1) Every person employed by ERMA immediately before the commencement of section 25 becomes an employee of the EPA on and from that date.

(2) The terms and conditions of employment of each employee remain the same as the terms and conditions of his or her employment with ERMA immediately before the commencement of section 25.

(3) Subsection (2) continues to apply to an employee's terms and conditions of employment until the terms and conditions are varied by agreement between the employee and the EPA.

(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Act and every enactment, law, determination, contract, and agreement relating to the employment of an employee transferred to the EPA under section 35 or 37.

(1A) The employee's employment is to be treated as unbroken and the employee's period of service with the previous employer ending on the close of the day before the employee is transferred under section 35 or 37 is to be treated as a period of service with the EPA.

(1B) Every other period of service of the employee that is recognised by the previous employer as continuous service is to be treated as a period of service with the EPA.

(2) In this section and sections 39 and 40, previous employer means ERMA or the Ministry for the Environment or the Ministry of Economic Development (as the case may be).

(1) This section applies to an employee of the Ministry for the Environment or the Ministry of Economic Development or ERMA who was covered by a collective agreement with the employee's previous employer immediately before the employee was transferred to the EPA under section 35 or 37.

(2) The employee continues to be bound by the collective agreement and may enforce the collective agreement against the EPA.

(3) The EPA is bound by the collective agreement only to the extent that it relates to the employee.

(4) This section does not apply to a collective agreement to the extent that the EPA and the employee agree otherwise.

(1) An employee is not entitled to receive any payment or other benefit on the ground that the employee's position with his or her previous employer has ceased to exist, if—

• (a) the employee's position ceases to exist as a result of the transfer of functions from his or her previous employer to the EPA; and

• (b) in connection with the transfer of functions,—

  • (i) the employee is offered equivalent employment with the EPA (whether or not the employee accepts the offer); or

  • (ii) the employee is offered and accepts other employment with the EPA.

(2) In subsection (1), employment with the EPA is equivalent to the employee's employment with his or her previous employer if the employment with the EPA is—

• (a) in substantially the same position; and

• (b) in the same general locality; and

• (c) on terms and conditions of employment no less favourable than those that apply to the employee immediately before the offer of equivalent employment (including any service-related, redundancy, and superannuation conditions).

(1AA) This section applies to a person who is an employee transferred to the EPA under section 35 or 37 of this Act and who, immediately before becoming an employee of the EPA, was a contributor to the Government Superannuation Fund under Part 2 or 2A of the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956.

(1) The person is, for the purpose of the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956, to be treated as if he or she continues to be employed in the Government service while the person is an employee of the EPA for the purposes of that Act, and that Act applies to the person as if the person's service as an employee of the EPA is Government service.

(2) However, if the person ceases to be a contributor to the Government Superannuation Fund after becoming an employee of the EPA, the person may not resume making contributions to the Fund.

(3) For the purpose of applying the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956 under this section, controlling authority, in relation to the person, means the EPA.

The employment of an employee who becomes an employee of the EPA under this Act does not constitute new employment for the purposes of the KiwiSaver Act 2006.

The appointment of a person holding the office of Registrar under section 11 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 on the day immediately before the commencement of section 52 of this Act is cancelled.

(1) This section applies to a function of a former agency under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 that is transferred to the EPA as a consequence of the amendment of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 by Part 4 of this Act.

(2) On and from the commencement of Part 4,—

• (a) all information that relates solely or principally to the function and that is held by a former agency is held by the EPA; and

• (b) all money payable to or by a former agency in relation to the function becomes payable to or by the EPA; and

• (d) all rights, liabilities, entitlements, and engagements of a former agency in relation to the function become the rights, liabilities, entitlements, and engagements of the EPA; and

• (e) all directions to a former agency that relate to the function and that are in effect immediately before the commencement of this section become directions to the EPA; and

• (f) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, in relation to the function by, or in relation to, a former agency is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (g) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings relating to the function by or against a former agency may instead be carried out by or against the EPA without amendment to the proceedings; and

• (h) a matter or thing relating to the function that would, but for this section, have been completed by a former agency may be completed by the EPA.

(3) In this section, former agency means the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, but does not include the Registrar whose appointment is cancelled under section 43.

(4) On and from the commencement of Part 4, property owned by a former agency solely or principally for the purposes of the function and identified as such by the former agency is vested in the EPA.

(5) The transfer of information from a former agency to the EPA under subsection (2)(a) does not constitute an action that is an interference with the privacy of an individual under section 66 of the Privacy Act 1993.

(1) This section applies to a delegation—

• (a) by the chief executive of a department with responsibility for the administration of a Part or subpart of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to the chief executive of another department in force on the day before the date on which Part 4 of this Act commences; and

• (b) that relates to a function of the department that is transferred to the EPA as a consequence of the amendment of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 by Part 4 of this Act.

(2) Despite the amendment of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 by Part 4 of this Act, the delegation continues in effect as if it were a delegation by the EPA to the chief executive of that other department.

(3) To avoid doubt, the EPA may revoke a delegation continued under subsection (2).

(1) This section applies to a contract (other than an employment agreement) that—

• (a) was made between the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development and another person; and

• (b) relates solely to a function or power of the chief executive under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 before Part 4 of this Act commences that becomes a function or power of the EPA on the commencement of Part 4.

(2) On and from the commencement of this section, the contract must be treated as if the EPA were the party to the contract instead of the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, as appropriate.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, every reference in a contract to the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, or a delegate of the chief executive, is to be read as a reference to the EPA.

(1) This section applies only in relation to a contract transferred to the EPA under section 46.

(2) On and from the commencement of section 46,—

• (a) all rights, liabilities, and entitlements of the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development under the contract become the rights, liabilities, and entitlements of the EPA; and

• (b) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by, or in relation to, the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (c) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings by or against the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development may instead be carried out by or against the EPA without amendment to the proceedings.

Despite the amendments made to section 93 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 by section 60 of this Act, a person's appointment as an enforcement officer continues,—

• (a) if the person is also an employee of the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Economic Development, or ERMA who is transferred to the EPA under section 35 or 37 of this Act, as if the EPA had appointed the person; or

• (b) if paragraph (a) does not apply, as if the EPA had delegated the power to appoint the person as an enforcement officer to the person who made the appointment.

(1) This section applies to a function of a Minister under the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988 or the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 that is transferred to the EPA as a consequence of the amendment of either Act by Part 5A or 5B of this Act respectively.

(2) On and from the commencement of Part 5A or 5B (as applicable),—

• (a) all information that relates solely or principally to the function and that is held by a former agency is held by the EPA; and

• (b) all money payable to or by a former agency in relation to the function becomes payable to or by the EPA; and

• (c) all rights, liabilities, entitlements, and engagements of a former agency in relation to the function become the rights, liabilities, entitlements, and engagements of the EPA; and

• (d) all directions to a former agency that relate to the function and that are in effect immediately before the commencement of this section become directions to the EPA; and

• (e) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, in relation to the function by, or in relation to, a former agency is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (f) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings relating to the function by or against a Minister may instead be carried out by or against the EPA without amendment to the proceedings; and

• (g) a matter or thing relating to the function that would, but for this section, have been completed by a former agency may be completed by the EPA.

(3) In this section, former agency means the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development.

(4) On and from the commencement of Part 5A or 5B (as applicable), property owned by a former agency solely or principally for the purposes of the function and identified as such by the former agency is vested in the EPA.

(5) The transfer of information from a former agency to the EPA under subsection (2)(a) does not constitute an action that is an interference with the privacy of an individual under section 66 of the Privacy Act 1993.

(1) This section applies to a contract (other than an employment agreement) that—

• (a) was made between the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development and another person; and

• (b) relates solely or principally to a function or power of a Minister under the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988 or the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 before Part 5A or 5B of this Act (as applicable) commences that becomes a function or power of the EPA on the commencement of Part 5A or 5B.

(2) On and from the commencement of this section, the contract must be treated as if the EPA were the party to the contract instead of the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, as appropriate.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, every reference in the contract to the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, or a delegate of the chief executive, is to be read as a reference to the EPA.

(1) This section applies only in relation to a contract transferred to the EPA under section 47C.

(2) On and from the commencement of section 47C,—

• (a) all rights, liabilities, and entitlements of the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development under the contract become the rights, liabilities, and entitlements of the EPA; and

• (b) anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by, or in relation to, the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development is to be treated as having been done, or omitted to be done, or to be done, by, or in relation to, the EPA; and

• (c) the commencement, continuation, or enforcement of proceedings by or against the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment or the chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development may instead be carried out by or against the EPA without amendment to the proceedings.