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Hazardous facilities

The term “hazardous facility” is not defined in New Zealand legislation. However, it is generally used to describe site-specific activities that involve the use and storage of hazardous substances.

The term is relevant to land-use planning under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) rather than to the substance-specific controls under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act). For the purpose of land-use planning, hazardous facilities are defined as activities involving hazardous substances and sites, including vehicles for their transport, and places where hazardous substances are used, stored, handled and disposed of.

These activities can include industrial operations such as chemical warehouses, manufacturing plants or bulk storage facilities, as well as workshops, agricultural or horticultural activities or home occupations. The term may also apply to facilities involved in the storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes (including waste hazardous substances covered by the HSNO Act).

Hazardous facilities in this context do not include:

  • the incidental use and storage of hazardous substances in minimal domestic-scale quantities
  • hazardous activities which do not involve hazardous substances but which may pose a risk to people or the natural environment due to a physical or biological hazard (for example, earthworks, electromagnetic radiation or genetically modified organisms)
  • pipelines used for the transfer of hazardous substances such as gas, oil and sewage
  • radioactive substances, which are covered by other legislation.

The document Land Use Planning for Hazardous Facilities – commonly known as the “Red Book” – has been revised. An assessment guide has been developed for regulatory agencies involved in assessing consent applications for new or upgraded facilities. These documents will provide guidance that is consistent with the requirements of the HSNO Act and regulations and the RMA.

An excel spreadsheet for hazardous facility screening procedure calculations (XLS 863 KB) is available and has recently (March 2003) been updated to assist users of the Hazardous Facility Screening Procedure with undertaking the necessary calculations. The following is an example of how Tasman District Council has applied the calculation package as part of their web-based internal procedures.

This worksheet includes an interim database of hazardous substances for use in the calculations, which remains the same as in previous versions. Once full classification of existing hazardous substances is carried out by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) users will need to refer to the ERMA website for updated information.

The Hazardous Facility Screening Procedure training manual was prepared by the Environment and Business Group Ltd and Alandale Consulting Ltd in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment for workshops in March 2002. This manual is designed promote a full understanding of the Hazardous Facility Screening Procedure, and its use as a planning tool for hazardous facilities under the Resource Management Act 1991.