Legislation to bring about a fairer and faster system for securing land for public infrastructure projects has passed its first reading in Parliament.

The Government has passed changes setting a new biogenic methane target.

The Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, has made decisions on the reclassification of Western South Island stewardship land.

However EDS says, while the decisions deliver conservation gains, it is disappointing that only 6 parcels are being referred to the New Zealand Conservation Authority for consideration as National Park.

Decisions have been announced that will provide clarity for approximately 80 per cent of stewardship land assessed on the West Coast of the South Island.

The Government has confirmed the establishment of a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT), to support the Government’s ambitious reform agenda in housing, transport, urban development and the environment.

The Government has approved the drafting of regulations to support a nationwide rural recycling scheme covering agrichemicals and plastic farm waste.

The Climate Change Commission has released the case study “Ā Te Taitokerau urutau i ngā āhuarangi – Responding to a changing climate in Te Taitokerau/Northland.”

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has reviewed how the Land Use Capability (LUC) system is being used in a regulatory context.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has written to the Minister of Climate Change expressing concern with passing amendments to the Climate Change Response Act under urgency.

The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) is pleased to see that the Government is no longer pursuing several terrible proposed amendments to the Fast-track Approvals Act. It released an Amendment Paper to the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill yesterday which strikes through most of the bad ideas.

The introduction of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill marks an abrupt end to more than three decades of integrated environmental management under the RMA.

The Government has announced New Zealand’s first-ever national wastewater environmental performance standards developed by the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai.