Background information

Subsection Contents:

Amendments to the HSNO Act

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"HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AND NEW ORGANISMS AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 2)"

The amendments proposed to the HSNO Act are designed to address industry concerns about the actual operation of the Act and the costs associated with compliance. The amendments, however, will not alter the fundamental objectives and principles of the Act. The changes will also ensure that the operation of the Act is closer to the original intention.

The amendments to the Act can be grouped into four categories:

Amendments that are considered essential for the practical operation of the Act;
Amendments intended to reduce compliance costs and delays;
Amendments intended to reduce ERMA New Zealand’s administration costs; and
Technical amendments to correct earlier errors.

1. Amendments Needed for the Practical Operation of the Act

These matters are largely to do with the transition to the new hazardous substances regime and the possibility of unintended consequences if some other sections are not amended. The amendments proposed include:

Extension of the Transitional Period:
Extend the transition period to three years from the commencement date of the Act with a discretion to extend it by 2 years if required.

Single approval for a hazardous substance:
This removes the current anomaly in the Act which requires every person that intends to import or manufacture a hazardous substance to apply for approval. The amendment ensures that the Act implements the policy on this matter introduced by the Government and agreed to by the bipartisan special Select committee which considered the original HSNO Bill.

Amending the definition of 'premises' to include dwellings for enforcement purposes.

The ability to delegate transitional approvals to other agencies

Amend the Act so that stationery containers (bulk tanks) for hazardous substances will not be treated as buildings under the Building Act 1991.

2. Amendments Intended to Reduce Compliance Costs and Time Delays

While implementing the Act, ERMA NZ has also received concerns about the costs of complying with the Act. Following discussions with industry groups, ERMA NZ has put forward a number of proposals that provide greater flexibility so that environmental and public health goals can be achieved at the least cost. These proposals are intended to reduce the costs of approvals and reduce barriers to innovation. The amendments overcome these concerns by:

Allowing for the rapid assessment of hazardous substances where risks do not warrant the use of the Act's full public assessment procedure.

Rapid assessment gives the ERMA the flexibility to avoid full public notification, or limit notification to those directly affected. The use of this procedure is subject to clearly defined criteria.

Ensuring that all small scale research and development work with hazardous substances are exempt from the Act's assessment procedure provided the complete system meets prescribed requirements that ensure that it is fully contained.

Extending the delegation of authority for certain 'low risk' decision making functions involving approvals and reassessments of hazardous substances.

Allowing minor variation of controls on existing approvals without the need for full assessment.

Allowing ERMA New Zealand to provide a statutory determination as to whether a substance is new or whether it is covered by an existing approval.

Extending the rapid assessment of new organisms that are released, and that are not genetically modified, to also include those that are imported into containment.

3. Amendments Intended to Reduce Administration Costs or Provide More Flexibility to Effectively Achieve the Purposes and Principles of the Act.

These amendments include:

Changing the transfer of enforcement provisions so as to remove potential barriers that might discourage such transfers between different enforcement agencies

Removing the requirement that forms be prescribed so that they can be changed without the use of regulations

Rationalising some time limits to allow more time for the preparation of the ERMA New Zealand's assessment evaluation reports and give the ERMA discretion to reduce other time limits where it can be shown that no party is adversely affected

Extending the matters to be addressed in the containment controls for hazardous substances and new organisms in the Third Schedule.

4. Technical Amendments

Finally there are a number of technical amendments proposed:

Extending Codes of Practice to include controls on hazardous substances.

Correcting the Seventh Schedule to include Part D class 6 ammunition in the explosives covered by the transition.

Amending test certificate provisions to increase the period of appointment to up to 5 years.