EDS draft submission on RM replacement bills calls for significant changes

EDS has released its draft submission on the two Resource Management Act replacement Bills ahead of the closing date.

EDS RM Reform Director Dr Greg Severinsen says “Our detailed draft submission highlights significant flaws in the bills. These include the provisions for regulatory relief, problems with environmental limits and highly constrained legal standing. There are many other problems, both substantive and drafting errors, which we have canvassed.”

Dr Severinsen has been leading EDS’s RM research programme for some years and has published extensively on the issues.

“Our detailed draft submission highlights significant flaws in the bills. These include the provisions for regulatory relief, problems with environmental limits and highly constrained legal standing. There are many other problems, both substantive and drafting errors, which we have canvassed.

“As well as releasing our draft submission, we are providing a template that should be useful to guide people through their individual submission preparations.

“The Bills have been rushed so are far from acceptable in their current form.”