Coal mine consent restrictions to ease
Resource consent applications will remain subject to the gateway tests
The Government will remove a layer of resource consent conditions imposed by its predecessor on coal mining applications and allow coal mines to be re-consented after 2030.
Resources minister Shane Jones announced the change, which will be included in a Resource Management Amendment Bill that is expected to come to Parliament in May.
“The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge that the impacts of physically extracting coal are similar, if not the same, as those occurring in mining other minerals,” Jones said.
“We need to align the consenting rules for the extraction of coal with other extractive activities.”
The amendment bill would change additional provisions relating to coal mines in the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater and the National Policy Statements for Freshwater Management and Indigenous Biodiversity.
Additional controls, introduced by the previous Government, ending the consenting pathway for existing thermal coal mines from December 31, 2030, will also be removed.
“This position ensures New Zealand’s industrial processors will have access to domestic coal and not be forced to rely on imported coal to meet their needs,” Jones said.
The NZ First minister has long campaigned on his desire to see New Zealand coal used in domestic industry rather than be imported, although he is understood to have been convinced that coal from Waikato coalfields is not an appropriate substitute for imported Indonesian coal now being used at the Huntly power station. New Zealand’s highest-value coal resources are on the West Coast of the South Island and are prized for their use in steel-making rather than being burned for heat. Most steelmaking still requires high-quality coal as part of the manufacturing process. “Harnessing the economic opportunities of our mining sector, including our extensive coal resources, will be crucial to the economic prosperity of New Zealand and to ensuring we have a secure supply of fuels and minerals to keep our economy growing,” Jones said, describing coal as “small but mighty part of New Zealand’s productive output”.
Controls on coal mining in specific locations, such as land excluded for access under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, will remain in place, and coal mining will still be subject to the same “robust” environmental protections that all mining is subject to.
“Resource consent applications for coal mining will remain subject to the gateway tests and the Effects Management Hierarchy, which requires adverse effects to be avoided, minimised, remedied, offset or compensated for.”