“average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year has the meaning given by the calculation under regulation 16D

“exceedance has the meaning given by regulation 13(3)

“meaningful PM₁₀ data has the meaning given by regulation 16C

“PM₁₀ standard means the ambient air quality standard prescribed by regulation 13(1) for PM₁₀”.

“13 Ambient air quality standards

• “(1) The ambient air quality standard for a contaminant specified in the first column of the table in Schedule 1 is that the contaminant must not exceed its threshold concentration in an airshed unless the exceedance is a permissible exceedance.

  “(2) The ambient air quality standard for a contaminant is breached if the contaminant exceeds its threshold concentration in an airshed and the exceedance is not a permissible exceedance.

  “(3) In these regulations,—

  “exceedance, for a contaminant, means an instance where the contaminant exceeds its threshold concentration in an airshed

  “permissible exceedance, for a contaminant, means 1 of the number of exceedances allowed for the contaminant in an airshed as specified in the third column of the table in Schedule 1

  “threshold concentration, for a contaminant, means the concentration of the contaminant specified in the second column of the table in Schedule 1 calculated as a mean for the time period specified in that column.”

“16A Exceptional circumstances causing breach of standard

• “(1) The Minister may, on written application by a regional council, decide that an exceedance of a contaminant in an airshed in the region of the council was caused by exceptional circumstances.

  “(2) The application must be received by the Minister no later than 3 months after the day of the exceedance.

  “(3) The Minister may decide that the exceedance was caused by exceptional circumstances only if he or she is satisfied that the exceedance was caused by exceptional circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the regional council.

  “(4) The Minister must give written notice to the regional council of his or her decision no later than 3 months after the day on which the application was received.

  “(5) If the decision in the notice is that the exceedance was caused by exceptional circumstances, the exceedance must be ignored in determining whether the ambient air quality standard for the relevant contaminant has been breached in the airshed.

  “(6) However, the exceedance must not be ignored in determining whether the standard has been breached for the purposes of regulation 16 (regional council must give public notice if standard breached).

“16B Allowances for meeting PM₁₀ standard

• “(1) The PM₁₀ standard strictly applies to an airshed (so that 1 exceedance is allowed in a 12-month period), unless subclause (3) applies to the airshed and allows more exceedances.

  “(2) Subclause (3) applies to an airshed on and from the first day on or after 1 September 2011 on which the airshed has meaningful PM₁₀ data for at least a 12-month period in the immediately prior 5-year period (the start date).

  “(3) In an airshed with the average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year specified in the first column of the table in this subclause, the PM₁₀ standard is not breached, or is to be treated as if it were not breached, during the period specified in the second column despite the occurrence of the number of exceedances of PM₁₀ specified in the third column.

  Average exceedances per year (before start date)		Period in which exceedances allowed (on and from start date)		Number of exceedances allowed
  1 or fewer		Always		1 or fewer in a 12-month period
  More than 1, but fewer than 10		1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016		Unlimited
  		1 September 2016 onwards		1 or fewer in a 12-month period
  10 or more		1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016		Unlimited
  		1 September 2016 to 31 August 2020		3 or fewer in a 12-month period
  		1 September 2020 onwards		1 or fewer in a 12-month period

  “(4) The average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year for an airshed under subclause (3) must be calculated under regulation 16D for the 5-year period ending immediately before the airshed's start date.

  “(5) Despite subclause (3), any breach of the PM₁₀ standard is still a breach for the purposes of the following regulations:

  • “(a) regulation 15 (regional council must monitor air quality if standard breached):

  • “(b) regulation 16 (regional council must give public notice if standard breached):

  • “(c) regulation 17(4)(b) (airshed stops being polluted airshed if PM₁₀ standard not breached for 5 years):

  • “(d) regulation 24A (discharge from certain open fires prohibited).

  “(6) If an airshed is established by notice in the Gazette, the data (if any) that best applies to the new airshed from the 1 or more airsheds from which the new airshed derived must be treated as if it were the new airshed's data to determine,—

  • “(a) under subclause (2), whether subclause (3) immediately applies or later applies to the airshed; and

  • “(b) under subclauses (3) and (4), how the table in subclause (3) applies to the airshed (if subclause (3) applies).

  “(7) To avoid doubt,—

  • “(a) subclause (3) does not affect the calculation under regulation 16D of an airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year; and

  • “(b) a reference in the third column of the table in subclause (3) to 1 or fewer exceedances being allowed in a 12-month period simply reflects the strict application of the PM₁₀ standard.

  “(8) This regulation expires on 1 September 2020.

  Example

  On 1 September 2011, an airshed has meaningful PM₁₀ data for four 12-month periods in the immediately prior 5-year period (ending on 31 August 2011). There were 42 exceedances of PM₁₀ in the airshed in those four 12-month periods.

  The airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year is (for the purposes of subclause (3))—

  	10.5 =		42
  			4

  The airshed is therefore (for certain purposes)—

  • allowed unlimited exceedances of PM₁₀ from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016:

  • allowed 3 exceedances of PM₁₀ in a 12-month period from 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2020.

  The PM₁₀ standard strictly applies again on 1 September 2020 (allowing 1 exceedance of PM₁₀ in a 12-month period).

“16C Meaningful PM₁₀ data for airshed

• “(1) This regulation specifies what is required for an airshed to have meaningful PM₁₀ data under regulation 16B(2), 16D(2), or 17(4)(a)(i).

  “(2) An airshed has meaningful PM₁₀ data for a 12-month period if,—

  • “(a) when the concentration of PM₁₀ in the airshed was measured during that period, it was measured in a way that allowed 24-hour mean concentrations to be calculated under Schedule 1; and

  • “(b) the measurements captured data for at least 95% of the 12-month period, after deducting from the duration of the 12-month period any periods of time that were not covered by measurements because of maintenance or calibration; and

  • “(c) at least 75% of the data captured was valid data.

“16D Calculation of airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year

• “(1) This regulation specifies how to calculate an airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year in a 5-year period for regulation 16B(4) or 17(4)(a)(ii).

  “(2) The average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year in an airshed is calculated as follows:

  	a =	e
  		y

  where—

  a

  is the average per year

  e

  is the number of exceedances of PM₁₀ in the airshed in the 1 or more 12-month periods for which the airshed had meaningful PM₁₀ data in the relevant 5-year period

  y

  is the number of those 12-month periods.

  “(3) However, if an exceedance of PM₁₀ (relating to exceptional circumstances) must be ignored under regulation 16A(5), the exceedance must be excluded from the calculation.”

“17 Certain applications must be declined unless other PM₁₀ discharges reduced

• “(1) A consent authority must decline an application for a resource consent (the proposed consent) to discharge PM₁₀ if the discharge to be expressly allowed by the consent would be likely, at any time, to increase the concentration of PM₁₀ (calculated as a 24-hour mean under Schedule 1) by more than 2.5 micrograms per cubic metre in any part of a polluted airshed other than the site on which the consent would be exercised.

  “(2) However, subclause (1) does not apply if—

  • “(a) the proposed consent is for the same activity on the same site as another resource consent (the existing consent) held by the applicant when the application was made; and

  • “(b) the amount and rate of PM₁₀ discharge to be expressly allowed by the proposed consent are the same as or less than under the existing consent; and

  • “(c) discharges would occur under the proposed consent only when discharges no longer occur under the existing consent.

  “(3) Subclause (1) also does not apply if—

  • “(a) the consent authority is satisfied that the applicant can reduce the PM₁₀ discharged from another source or sources into each polluted airshed to which subclause (1) applies by the same or a greater amount than the amount likely to be discharged into the relevant airshed by the discharge to be expressly allowed by the proposed consent; and

  • “(b) the consent authority, if it intends to grant the proposed consent, includes conditions in the consent that require the reduction or reductions to take effect within 12 months after the consent is granted and to then be effective for the remaining duration of the consent.

  “(4) For the purposes of this regulation,—

  • “(a) an airshed becomes a polluted airshed on and from 1 September 2012 or any later day if, for the immediately prior 5-year period,—

    • “(i) the airshed has meaningful PM₁₀ data for at least a 12-month period; and

    • “(ii) the airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ (as calculated under regulation 16D) was more than 1 per year; and

  • “(b) an airshed stops being a polluted airshed on and from any day if the PM₁₀ standard was not breached in the airshed in the immediately prior 5-year period.

  “(5) If an airshed is established by notice in the Gazette, the data (if any) that best applies to the new airshed from the 1 or more airsheds from which the new airshed derived must be treated as if it were the new airshed's data to determine, under subclause (4),—

  • “(a) whether the new airshed immediately becomes a polluted airshed; or

  • “(b) whether the new airshed later becomes or stops being a polluted airshed.

  “(6) To avoid doubt,—

  • “(a) a polluted airshed to which subclause (1) applies may or may not be an airshed in the region of the consent authority considering an application; and

  • “(b) if an airshed stops being a polluted airshed under subclause (4)(b), it may later become a polluted airshed again under subclause (4)(a).

  Example

  An airshed's average exceedances of PM₁₀ per year is 1.2 for the 5-year period from 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2012. The airshed therefore becomes a polluted airshed on 1 September 2012.

  15 March 2020 is the first day after the end of a 5-year period in which the PM₁₀ standard was not breached in the airshed. The airshed therefore stops being a polluted airshed on 15 March 2020.

• “(2) The discharge must be measured in accordance with—

  • “(a) the method specified in Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4013:1999, Domestic solid fuel burning appliances—Method for determination of flue gas emissions; or

  • “(b) for a woodburner excluded from that method, another method that is functionally equivalent.”

• “(2) The thermal efficiency must be calculated in accordance with—

  • “(a) the method specified in Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4012:1999, Domestic solid fuel burning appliances—Method for determination of power output and efficiency; or

  • “(b) for a woodburner excluded from that method, another method that is functionally equivalent.”

“Domestic solid-fuel burning open fires

“24A Discharge from certain open fires prohibited

• “(1) A regional council must give public notice the first time that the PM₁₀ standard is breached in an airshed in its region on or after 1 September 2011.

  “(2) The public notice must—

  • “(a) state that subclauses (3) and (4) of this regulation will prohibit the discharge of particles from domestic solid-fuel burning open fires installed in the relevant area on or after a certain date (the date of the ban); and

  • “(b) specify as the date of the ban the day that is 12 months after the day of the breach; and

  • “(c) specify the airshed whose area the notice applies to; and

  • “(d) be given at least 6 months before the date of the ban; and

  • “(e) be given in accordance with the Act.

  “(3) Subclause (4) applies to a domestic solid-fuel burning open fire that is installed in the area of an airshed specified in a notice under subclause (2) on or after the date of the ban specified in the notice.

  “(4) The discharge of particles into any airshed from the open fire is prohibited.

  “(5) For the purposes of this regulation,—

  • “(a) the area of an airshed is determined at the date of the related breach of the PM₁₀ standard; and

  • “(b) once subclauses (3) and (4) apply to an area they always apply to the area, despite the establishment of any new airshed by notice in the Gazette.

  “(6) In this regulation, domestic solid-fuel burning open fire—

  • “(a) means an appliance or a structure inside a domestic building that can burn solid fuel but cannot effectively control the rate of air supply to the combustion zone; and

  • “(b) to avoid doubt, includes a fireplace to which paragraph (a) applies that has a cover or doors that cannot effectively control the rate of air supply to the combustion zone.”

“More stringent rule, resource consent, or bylaw prevails

“28 More stringent rule, resource consent, or bylaw prevails

• A rule, resource consent, or bylaw that is more stringent than these regulations prevails over the regulations.”