Regional Plan for discharges to land

Updated 3 August 2020 2:25pm

The Regional Plan for Discharges to Land became operative on 17 December 1999.

Plan Change 1 to the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land became operative on 1 September 2003. Plan Change 2 amended the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land on 19 December 2011 in accordance with section 55 of the RMA to give effect to policy A4 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. Plan Change 2 inserted Policy 4.2.24A.

Plan Change 3 amended policy 4.2.24A to give effect to an amendment of Policy A4 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management in July 2014. Plan Change 3 takes effect from 1 August 2014, the date that the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 takes effect.

The Plan applies to the whole of the Wellington region, except the coastal marine area. It identifies issues to be addressed so that the receiving environment for discharges to land can be sustainably managed. Objectives, policies, and methods (including rules) have been adopted to address these issues.

You can browse the rules by clicking on the highlighted regional rules link at the left of this screen.

The Plan can be downloaded from the documents bar on the right of this screen.

What sort of activities does the Plan cover?

The Regional Plan for Discharges to Land applies to discharges of contaminants to land, whether or not the discharge enters water. Discharges covered include:

those arising from landfills, rubbish dumps and tips
sewage (including pit latrines, septic tanks, and large land treatment operations)
greywater and stormwater
agricultural contaminants (including offal pits, fertiliser, dairyshed wastewater and stock dip effluent)
hazardous substances (including pesticides, waste oil, discharges from contaminated sites)

You can find the rules or regulations that apply to activities in our user guide.

Plan effectiveness monitoring

The plan effectiveness report for the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land describes the results of monitoring the effectiveness of the policies and methods, including rules, in the Plan. A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the sidebar on the right side of this page.

Regional plans and Policy Statements

Greater Wellington has produced five regional plans: Regional Coastal Plan, a Regional Freshwater Plan, a Regional Soil Plan, a Regional Air Quality Management Plan and a Regional Plan for Discharges to Land.

Regional Policy Statements must also be prepared for each region. They enable regional councils to provide broad direction and a framework for resource management within their regions. The Greater Wellington Regional Council released a second generation RPS in April 2013.