This page has information about upcoming public consultations, including nationally significant proposals and proposed changes to the laws and regulations we administer.

Consultations are grouped by type of consultation. The dates provided are a guide only.

Proposals that the Minister calls in as being a proposal of national significance, or part of a proposal of national significance, are included on this page under the Nationally Significant Proposals section. 

When a consultation is opened for public submission, you will find it in the "Open for submission" section.

See our Open for submission page

Each consultation will provide details about when and how you can have your say.

All other public consultations either underway or completed can be found either under "In Progress" or "Decided" sections.

You can keep up-to-date with information about current applications and consultations in the news section of our website and by signing up to our newsletters.

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Hazardous substances consultations Plus

Amending the EPA Hazardous Substances (Storage and Disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutants) Notice 2004

We are proposing to amend the Hazardous Substances (Storage and Disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutants) Notice 2004.

This Gazette Notice prohibits the storage or disposal of any persistent organic pollutant (POP) in New Zealand, unless it is stored or disposed of in accordance with the requirements included in the notice.

The proposed amendments include:

  • updating the requirements relating to the disposal of POPs
  • updating the notice to take account of the legislative reform which occurred in December 2017
  • adding new provisions for manufactured articles that contain POPs.
Nationally Significant Proposals and Plan Changes Plus

Watercare Waikato River water take proposal

On 30 June 2020, after considering the advice provided by the Environmental Protection Authority, the Minister for Environment under section 142(2) of the Resource Management Act 1992 (RMA), issued a direction to call in a resource consent application by Watercare Services Ltd (Watercare) and refer the matter to a Board of Inquiry.

The resource consent application was lodged with the Waikato Regional Council on the 20 December 2013 and is to take an additional 200,000 cubic metres/day (net) of water from the Waikato River and associated discharges and structures. Watercare is an Auckland Council organisation and the proposal is for municipal water supply for Auckland.

A Board of Inquiry has been appointed to consider the proposal. Chief Environment Court Judge David Kirkpatrick will chair the Board. Other members appointed to the Board are Waikato University Law Professor Linda Te Aho and infrastructure specialist consultant Anthony Wilson. Linda Te Aho was nominated by the Waikato River Authority as required under the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010.   

Read about the Board of Inquiry members

The EPA is currently preparing to publicly notify the Minister's Direction and the application on Friday 12 February 2021, after which there will be a 30 working day period for submissions.

Further details will be posted on this website in due course. In the meantime, you can contact the EPA team in the following ways:

Find out more about proposals of national significance