Updated National Environmental Standards for Electricity Network Activities and for Telecommunication Facilities took effect on 8 October. These are enacted regulations, not proposals.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said the standards replace inconsistent council requirements with nationally consistent rules, including when routine or low-impact work can go ahead without a resource consent.
The electricity standard significantly expands the earlier national rules for transmission infrastructure, while the telecommunications standard updates the 2016 rules for network facilities.
The minister said the changes complete a two-year programme that developed or amended 16 national direction instruments covering housing, infrastructure, energy and the primary sector, designed as a bridge to the planned Planning Act and Natural Environment Act.
Network operators and councils will now work through how the new rules apply to specific projects. Their practical effect on cost and timing will become clearer as upgrades are planned under them.
