Clause 3 defines terms used in the Bill, including Hurunui/Kaikōura earthquakes, earthquake-affected area, and local authority (for the purposes of subpart 1 of Part 2 of the Bill). It also provides for the incorporation of definitions from the Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA) into the Bill.

Clause 4 provides that the Bill binds the Crown.

Clause 5 modifies the requirements in section 330A of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) in respect of actions taken under section 330 of that Act (which allow certain persons to undertake emergency works without fulfilling all the requirements of the Act, such as obtaining a resource consent for the works if a consent is usually required). The clause extends the time by which a person must notify the relevant consent authority that the person is carrying out the works from 7 days to 40 working days. The clause also extends the period by which a person must apply for any necessary resource consents from 20 to 120 working days.

Clause 6 modifies the notification requirements of section 330(2) of the RMA, which authorises consent authorities to enter certain places in an emergency provided certain preconditions are met. The modification applies if the occupier is not present at the time of entry, and treats the authority as having complied with section 330 provided that a notice giving certain information is displayed on the land where the place is.

Clause 7 modifies the requirements of section 330B of the RMA, which relates to activities carried out under a state of emergency or transition period under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, in the same manner as the modifications made by clause 5. The time within which notification of the activity must be given and an application for a resource consent must be made is extended from 7 to 40 working days and 20 to 120 working days respectively.

Clause 8 provides that this subpart applies subject to the limitation in clause 18, which relates to the use of emergency powers for certain activities in respect of the rehabilitation of Kaikōura Harbour.

Clause 9 states that the subpart applies to activities that are undertaken on rural land and to which 1 or more of the regional or district plans of the Hurunui, Kaikoura, and Marlborough District Councils, and the Canterbury Regional Council apply. Rural land is defined in the clause as land that has rural zoning status in the relevant district plan or is used for the primary purpose of livestock or horticultural farming.

Clause 10 states that owners and occupiers of rural land can undertake certain emergency preventive or remedial measures on their land if there is, or is likely to be, loss of life or injury to humans, loss of life or serious detriment to the health or well-being of animals, or serious damage to land or property. The measures taken must be proportionate to the loss, injury, serious detriment, or serious damage (or the risk of any of those) and must not have significant adverse effects on land or property beyond the rural land’s border. If the measures taken meet these requirements, they are treated as permitted activities for the purposes of the relevant district or regional plan or plans.

Clause 11 requires owners and occupiers of rural land who carry out the measures referred to in clause 10 to give notice within 40 working days of doing so to the relevant local authority. If notice is not given, the permitted activity status of the activity is revoked as from the date on which the 40-working-day notice period ends.

Clause 12 notes that the duty on a local authority to gather information, monitor, and keep records under section 35 of the RMA continues to apply.

Clause 13 provides that only a local authority can take enforcement proceedings (including declaratory proceedings) under Part 12 of the RMA in relation to activities undertaken under this subpart.

Clause 14(1) provides that the subpart is repealed on 30 March 2017. Under subclause (2), the repeal does not automatically affect the permitted activity status conferred on an activity. However, its status may be changed under the normal processes in the RMA as provided for in subclause (3). Subclause (3) also provides that, despite the repeal of the subpart, clause 13 continues to apply for the purposes of taking any enforcement proceedings in relation to a permitted activity with continuing status as such.

Clause 15 defines terms used in the subpart, including Kaikōura Harbour.

Clause 16 defines rehabilitation work, and includes a list of activities that may be undertaken in circumstances specified in the rest of the subpart (provided they are necessary or desirable so that the harbour and its facilities are able to be used fully, effectively, and safely).

Clause 17 provides that rehabilitation work that has any status other than that of a permitted activity in the Kaikoura District Council plan or a Canterbury Regional Council regional plan is deemed to be a controlled activity and the consent authority concerned may impose any conditions under section 108 of the RMA that it considers appropriate on a resource consent granted for the activity for the purposes of managing or monitoring the environmental effects of the activity.

Clause 18 provides that the modifications to the RMA set out in subpart 1 of the Bill do not apply to a deemed controlled activity undertaken by a consent authority unless the authority,—

• before undertaking the activity, considers certain matters (including the environmental effects of the activity); and

• while undertaking the activity, monitors the environmental effects of the activity and avoids, remedies, or mitigates those effects as far as is practicable.

Clause 19 requires a consent authority to advise certain persons that an application for a deemed controlled activity has been lodged and to invite written comments from those persons.

Clause 20 provides that—

• an application for a deemed controlled activity must not be publicly notified or given limited notification; and

• clause 19 applies instead of sections 95 to 99A of the RMA; but

• otherwise the application must be determined in accordance with Part 6 of the RMA.

Clause 21 requires a consent authority making a decision on an application for a deemed controlled activity to prepare and consider a summary of the written comments made by persons under the process in clause 19 and to make this summary, together with its response to the issues raised, publicly available on an Internet site before or when the decision on the application is notified.

Clause 22 limits the ability to take enforcement proceedings in relation to the activities undertaken in reliance on this subpart to a consent authority or a Minister.

Clause 23 provides for additional local authorities to be added to the application of the Bill in certain limited circumstances.

Clause 24 confirms that Orders in Council made under clause 23 are disallowable instruments and legislative instruments under the Legislation Act 2012.

Clause 25 provides for the repeal of the Bill on 1 April 2018, with the exception of subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Bill (which is repealed on 30 March 2017).