Monitoring your consent
Compliance monitoring is necessary to ensure you meet the conditions of your consent and protect our environment. Find out how we work with consent holders and our communities to ensure they comply with rules and requirements.
Why we monitor your consents
Environmental regulation and protection are part of our core services. To help achieve this, we undertake effective and targeted consent compliance monitoring around the region.
We aim to deal with environmental risks before they become incidents and cause damage.
We work with land managers, individuals, and industry to improve compliance and ensure long-term environmental results.
Meeting consent conditions
The purpose of compliance monitoring is to confirm whether consent holders are meeting the conditions of their consent.
The conditions on resource consents are designed to control any adverse environmental effects arising from the activities authorised by the consent.
We need to know consents are being complied with to ensure the resource you are using remains fit for you and other consent holders to use.
How we monitor
A compliance monitoring programme is initially determined at the time your consent is granted.
How much compliance monitoring is required varies according to the nature of your activity, its size and frequency, and potential environmental impact.
Consents with an ongoing effect on the environment have a monitoring programme. Consents with one-off or very limited effects may only need one site visit. Your compliance programme may be reduced if you establish a good compliance record. It may also be increased if you establish a poor compliance record.
Monitoring tasks
As part of the compliance monitoring programme for a consent, we:
- carry out an initial visit to assess if the consent is being implemented in accordance with the consent conditions
- carry out site visits and inspections (if required)
- review the results of any monitoring carried out by you or your consultants
- advise you on the outcome of the compliance visit
- carry out tests and analyse samples at a laboratory (if relevant).
In most cases our staff will carry out compliance checks, but we occasionally need outside expertise to assist with the monitoring of some consents. The costs of these experts may be included as part of your consent monitoring charge.
Monitoring charges
Your compliance monitoring programme is tailored to your circumstances. All time and costs associated with monitoring your consent are passed on to you as the consent holder. If you hold a monitored consent that requires our staff’s time, you will be charged at the rate outlined in the Fees and Charges Schedule.
As set out in the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991, we may charge for costs associated with our ongoing maintenance and monitoring of consents (RMA Section 36(1)(c)), and monitoring specified permitted activities under a national environmental standard (RMA Section 36(1)(cc)).
This charge covers:
- desktop monitoring
- site visits and inspections
- preparing correspondence and reporting
- assessing effects of non-compliance
- follow up inspections relating to non-compliance
- testing and analysing samples
- reviewing information for consent holders.
In addition, mileage and disbursements may be charged.
To ensure your charges are kept to a minimum, you must read the conditions of the resource consent and comply with them.
If you are not sure how to comply with your resource consent or are uncertain about how to interpret a condition, contact our Advisory team on 0800 324 636, who can put you in touch with our Compliance team to discuss the conditions you have.
Find out more about our consent cost and fees.
How we respond to non-compliance
If there is an issue, our first response is to work with individuals and businesses to stop any immediate environmental damage. We then investigate to determine what actions should be taken, including enforcement.
Education can achieve better outcomes and is valued by consent holders who need help. If education does not get the right results, there are a range of compliance actions that we can take as set out below:
- Formal written warnings that notify of an offence and require action to be taken.
- Infringement notices, which include a fine, are issued for more significant breaches.
- Abatement notices are formal written directions, requiring certain actions to be taken or to cease within a specified time.
- Prosecution is reserved for offences so serious that they warrant proceedings through the courts.
Need help?
You can contact our Advisory Services team on 0800 324 636, or via our online form if you have any queries or require clarification on obligations under your resource consent.
Find out more about how we are working together to achieve compliance.