Environmental limits

Environmental limits will set boundaries for the effects activities can have on natural resources, ecosystems and human health.

Central government will set human health limits and can specify methodologies used to develop ecosystem health limits through national standards. Regional councils will set ecosystem health limits in natural environment plans.

Environmental limits must be linked to a management unit (a defined geographic area within which an environmental limit applies) and will be required for the following domains:

• freshwater
• coastal water
• land and soil
• air
• indigenous biodiversity.

Limits can take different measurable forms. A limit may be expressed as a number or in narrative form, as long as it can be measured and enforced. For example, a state attribute (an identified biophysical state of the natural environment within the management unit) could describe an acceptable concentration of faecal bacteria in a river. A stress attribute (an identified level of harm or stress on the environment) could describe the total amount of water that may be taken from a river.

How environmental limits differ from the RMA

There were no requirements to set limits under the RMA, although national policy statements and national environmental standards required limits for some areas, such as freshwater and air. Under the new planning system, councils must set limits across a wider range of domains. This will be a new exercise for councils and may require new accounting and data systems, monitoring approaches, guidance and capability support.

Councils will build and maintain the evidence base needed to understand environmental state, pressures, resource use and trends within management units.

Iwi authorities and communities will have opportunities to participate during the development of national policy direction, national standards, spatial plans, and natural environment plans.

When limits or methodologies are developed, decision makers must consider a wide range of matters including:

• relevant environmental effects
• community needs and aspirations
• implications for existing and future resource use and allocation
• costs and effectiveness of management methods
• alternative ways of providing for resource use
• natural processes and variability.

The move from the RMA to the new planning system will happen in stages as shown on the Timeline for transitional consenting page.

See key milestones in the transition.

Who does environmental limits affect in practice

Environmental limits may affect:

• regional councils
• territorial authorities
• iwi and hapū
• resource users, including farmers, growers, infrastructure providers, industry and other sectors whose activities may affect environmental outcomes
• communities and landowners
• consent and permit holders.

What happens next

Implementation training and events

We will continue to develop implementation support as the new system develops and as national standards and regulations are gazetted. This will include guidance, implementation support materials, examples and learning resources.

See information on implementation training and events.