The Government is continuing to progress its National Direction reform programme, following its May 2025 announcement that this process would occur over three packages of environmental policy reform, amending 12 existing instruments and introducing four new instruments. The first package of infrastructure and development related policy was approved and gazetted on 18 December and came into force on 15 January 2026.
The Government has now approved and gazetted the next package of amendments which focuses on primary sector regulation. The more targeted package of amendments is to only two sets of National Environmental Standards:
- Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Marine Aquaculture) Regulations 2020 (NES-MA)
- Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry) Regulations 2017 (NES-CF).
Similar to the first package, the focus of these amendments is to simplify, streamline and standardise consenting processes. Key changes to the NES-MA include:
- Improving consistency and reducing barriers to reconsenting and amendments to consent conditions for marine aquacultural activities
- Enabling aquaculture related scientific research and processes to enable consents and conditions to keep up with scientific development
- Clarification of technical matters such as what is considered to be an area occupied by an activity and what is meant by research or trial activities.
Key changes to the NES-CF include:
- Clarifying when the national standards will apply and when more stringent regulation may be imposed by councils
- Replace prescriptive slash management requirements with a more proportionate risk-based approach
- Removing duplication in processes
- Introducing new technical documents to be used in the implementation of the standards.
The amendments will come into force on 4 June 2026. Once the amendments come into force, they will have immediate legal effect as rules that must be complied with for all consenting, reconsenting and consent variations lodged on or after 4 June.
Our national environment and resource management team has extensive experience in previous reform cycles and has been closely following the developments in this area, and their likely implications. We are well positioned to advise clients on what these changes might mean for their upcoming projects or existing undertakings and responsibilities. Please contact a member of our team if you would like to discuss the potential implications of these new and amended national direction documents, and what they may mean for you.
