Feds’ advocacy on tyre regulations pay dividends
The new regulations for stockpiling tyres are about to become law, and Federated Farmers is mostly pleased with the way they have landed for farmers.
‘‘We’ve been involved in the consultation with the Ministry for the Environment
for almost four years. But it’s been worth it and shows that it is possible to develop pragmatic regulations to achieve environmental aims and enable common farming practices,’’ Feds environment spokesperson Chris Allen says.
‘‘Farmers, like urban residents, do not want used tyre dumps in our neighbourhood. This regulation makes it clear that outdoor tyre dumps are unacceptable in New Zealand.’’
Federated Farmers was the only agricultural group to submit on the original proposal, with DairyNZ providing support at a later stage.
Had the regulations passed in their original format, farmers with more than one silage pit would have been required to obtain resource consent, estimated to cost around $6500.
‘‘Avoiding this as a compliance cost alone is a pretty good return on investment from a yearly Feds membership,’’ Chris said.
But most importantly for farmers, it allows them to continue to recycle used tyres as silage weights, an important tool in preserving pasture surpluses and feeding our animals well, keeping our environmental impact low.
The general conditions that apply to silage tyres are consistent with most existing regional council rules for silage pit and bund locations, and farming practices. In some cases, farmers may need to think about moving their silage stack or bund slightly to meet minimum distance requirements.
To find a full copy of the legislation, enter this title in a search bar: Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Storing Tyres Outdoors) Regulations 2021
In summary, the rules :
● Apply to tyres which will remain deposited on a property for more than 72 hours, that are not stored indoors or buried in the ground and are not in active use.
Active use is:
• fitted to a vehicle, equipment; or
• being used to weigh down the cover on a silage stack; or machinery or
• are being used for sporting or recreational purposes, engineering, landscaping, drainage or other construction and:
❏ the tyres are attached or form part of a structure;
❏ are bound or otherwise connected to each other;
❏ was lawfully established prior these regulations coming into force;
❏ and hasn’t been discontinued more than six months.
● Storing less than 20m3 – permitted activity. Note: 20m3 is approximately 250-380 tyres.
● If storing between 20m3 and 100m3 of tyres, the following conditions must be met:
• Piled no more than 3 metres high, • Must be at least 50m from
❏ any overhead transmission line;
❏ any other part of the national grid that is above ground;
❏ from any bore or surface water body that is used to supply drinking water (and at least 50m from the extraction point); and
❏ from coastal marine areas; and • must be at least 20m from
❏ any bore that connects to an aquifer ❏ any surface water body and
❏ at least 1m above the water table of any aquifer.
● Exemptions:
You can store more than 100m3 property if:
• the tyres are new, newly retread or stored by a business who supplies or services new or newly retreaded tyres;
• the tyres are awaiting retreading and stored on a property owned by the active retreading business; or
• The tyres are stored for use as weights to weigh down covers on 1 or more silage stacks and the following conditions are met:
❏ tyres are stored next to pits or other areas where silage stacks are regularly made; and
❏ the volume of tyres is no more than is needed to cover the silage stack (largest stack that may be reasonably made) in a single layer of whole tyres and
❏ calculated volume includes tyres in use on the silage stack and those beside it. to for per