This Amendment Paper amends Amendment Paper No 347, which amends the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill (the Bill). The Bill amends the Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA).

The Bill as reported back by the Environment Select Committee, inserted new section 70(3) into the RMA. New section 70(3) enables a regional council to include in its regional plan a rule that allows as a permitted activity a discharge of contaminants that may allow significant adverse effects on aquatic life in the receiving waters.

Before the council can include a permitted activity rule that may allow for those effects, the following criteria (the relevant criteria) must be met:

• those effects are already in the receiving waters; and

• the council must be satisfied that the rule includes standards for the permitted activity; and

• those standards will contribute to a reduction of those effects over a period no greater than 10 years.

This Amendment paper replaces new section 70(3) with a new provision. The main difference is that the replacement provision also enables the inclusion of a rule that allows as a permitted activity a discharge of contaminants that may allow the following effects in the receiving waters:

• any conspicuous change in the colour or visual clarity:

• the rendering of fresh water unsuitable for consumption by farm animals.

Before the council can include a permitted activity rule that may allow for those effects, the relevant criteria must be met.

This Amendment paper also amends Amendment Paper No 347 to remove the production of floatable or suspended materials from section 70(1)(c) of the RMA. The production of those materials will no longer be included in the council’s consideration of effects under section 70.

The transitional provision in new clause 49A of Schedule 2 is amended to incorporate the amendments to section 70(1).

Amendment Paper No 347 inserts new section 80QA into the Bill to require a local authority to give public notice of a proposed planning instrument being withdrawn under new section 80Q. This Amendment Paper clarifies that the public notice must also mention the date of withdrawal.