Conservation Act 1987
Status quo and problem
The Conservation Act 1987 (CA):
- restricts the granting of concessions as permits to a maximum of 5 years without public notification, and requires that the intent to issue all licences is publicly notified. The notification process is expensive and time-consuming, and paid for by the applicant. In practice, many low-impact and small scale business proposals must be publicly notified in order to gain tenure longer than 5 years, or if a licence activity is involved.
- does not explicitly state that the Minister of Conservation will decline to consider applications made for a concession while that concession opportunity is being tendered or is subject to other processes. From time to time the Minister tenders the right to apply for certain concession opportunities (or initiates other specified processes to invite or encourage applications). There is potential for parties to undermine the objectives of such processes, by applying while they are underway.
Objectives
To ensure that the policy intent of the regulatory frameworks relating to the concession provisions of the Conservation Act can be implemented and administered in a manner that eliminates unnecessary compliance costs and minimises necessary compliance costs.
Alternative options
- Options considered for resolving the duration and notification problem included
- Seeking more resources for additional processing capacity. This option would probably divert resources from higher priority work and would not address the underlying causal factors of this problem.
- Raising processing costs to enable the purchase of additional resources. This would add cost to applicants and would only have a marginal impact on processing times or backlogs.
- Using very simple consideration processes to speed up application processes. While this would speed up processes, it would also risk insufficient effects consideration and poor decision-making.
- Changing the legislation to allow for permits and licences to be issued for periods up to 10 years without public notification. This is the preferred option.
- Options considered to fix the contestable process problem included:
- Change the legislation to require the Minister not to consider uninvited applications once a contestable process has commenced. This is the preferred option
Preferred option
Amend the Conservation Act 1987 to:
- allow permits to be granted for a term not exceeding 10 years, and so that licences up to 10 years duration are not notified unless the Minister considers the effects make notification appropriate (Section 17Z(2) and section 17T(4)). The Minister is able to impose a condition on the concession requiring a review of conditions during the term in both cases.
The duration and notification proposal will mainly affect activities without significant adverse effects such as some guiding operations. With respect to licences, the primary area of effect will be long-standing grazing licences. The amendments will enable DOC to transfer resources from repeated processing of short-term concessions into management planning and environmental monitoring. Small-scale, low-impact business proposals will be able to receive terms of up to 10 years without incurring the expense and additional time delays relating to public notification which can cost in excess of $1000 + GST. Businesses will receive greater certainty of investment. The proposal will reduce compliance costs as many businesses, particularly small owner-operator ones and farmers, will now only have to re-apply for their concessions every 10 years instead of every five. The standard fee for each process is around $1200 + GST plus the applicant's costs. Under other provisions of the Act, DOC will be able to review concessions and make changes if circumstances change, including a change in a management plan or strategy, or where significant effects become apparent over time.
- clarify that the Minister of Conservation will decline to consider applications for a concession from the point in time that a tender (or other) process has been launched. Both the Minister and tender applicants will benefit from greater certainty by knowing that third-party applicants are not possible once a tender (or other process) has commenced. Precluding the possibility of a process being derailed by applicants outside that process will protect the tenderers' investment of time and money.
Consultation
The proposals have been discussed in some detail with a wide range of stakeholders (NZ Conservation Authority, Ministry of Tourism, Te Puni Kokiri, Tourism Industry Association, Maori Tourism Council, Forest & Bird, Federated Mountain Clubs, Federated Farmers and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu).
There is a general consensus of support for the proposals. In the case of the duration and notification issue this support is subject to the development of improved guidance to decision-makers around classifying applications as low-impact, and the existence of a discretion to conduct mid-term reviews of concession conditions for 10 year non-notified concessions.
Local Government New Zealand does not oppose the proposals, but has requested that DOC investigate the "term" proposal with a view to extending it to reserves vested in local authorities. DOC and LGNZ will be investigating this proposal further. Further Cabinet approval will be sought, if necessary, to extend the "term" proposal to vested reserves.
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