Update on the amendments to the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health

Update on the amendments to the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health

07 April 2017

About the consultation

The Government held a public consultation on proposed amendments to the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health (NESCS) from 12 September to 14 October 2016. The purpose of the proposed amendments is to deliver more effectively on the policy intent of the NESCS which is ‘to ensure that land affected by contaminants in soil is appropriately identified and assessed at the time of being developed and if necessary remediated, or the contaminants contained to make the land safe for human use.’

Submissions

The Ministry received 91 written submissions. Submissions were from a wide range of stakeholders, the majority coming from territorial authorities, contaminated land practitioners, and business or industry.

Key themes of the submissions:

• Some proposed amendments attracted some criticisms and suggestions, but submissions were generally supportive of the intent behind them.
• Submissions were supportive of changes to the NESCS that would improve its clarity, consistency, and focus on risks to human health.
• Guidance will be crucial to the success of the proposed amendments and will need to be produced by the Ministry.
• There was some concern on proposed amendments that were perceived to create an additional cost burden to councils. For example, where permitted activities may require a detailed site investigation and costs to review this would not be able to be recovered.

Next steps

• We have analysed the submissions and refined the proposed amendments/
• The final proposed amendments need to be approved by the Cabinet before the amended regulations can be drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO).
• A copy of the draft wording PCO produce – the ‘exposure draft’ – will be tested by a focused group of stakeholders. The exposure draft process seeks feedback on how the regulations are drafted and whether they will work in practice. This is not an opportunity to re-open the policy debate behind the regulations, but to check the regulations can be implemented and will achieve the policy objective.
• We will be approaching people soon to be on the working group to test the exposure draft.
• Once a final version of the amended regulations is agreed, it needs to be approved by Cabinet’s legislative committee and can then be gazetted. We aim for the amended NES to be gazetted in mid-2017.
• We are considering a period of transition between the amended NESCS is gazetted and it coming into force. This will allow time for councils and contaminated land practitioners to become familiar with the changes.
• The implementation phase is still being planned, but will include guidance on the Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL) and an updated User’s Guide.

For more information please contact Nic Quilty