The long-awaited Planning Act and Natural Environment Act (Acts) received royal assent on 30 September 2026, marking the start of a gradual overhaul of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). We provide an overview of the new dual act structure, material differences to the RMA, and implications of the new system here. Now that the Acts have come into force, this alert outlines what you need to know now.

Timeframes

For the first month, the RMA will largely continue to operate as usual. However, several targeted amendments have immediate effect. One amendment is the removal of Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements, which had provided a framework for iwi participation in resource management processes. This removal was a late and contested addition to the Planning Act.

The first round of broader changes will occur on 30 October 2026, when the transition period (Transition Period) begins. During the Transition Period, the RMA will continue to govern day-to-day matters such as consenting and enforcement. At the same time, provisions of the new Acts come into force to govern the preparation of the key planning documents for the new system – including National Policy Directions, National Standards, Regional Spatial Plans, Land Use Plans, and Natural Environment Plans. The Transition Period is designed to avoid disruption while this new planning framework is established. The Planning Act sets out the following indicative timeline for the Transition Period and preparation of the framework:

• 1 month after enactment: The Transition Period will begin, triggering amendments to various acts, including the RMA.
• 12 months after enactment: National Policy Direction for the Acts will be issued. The Illustrative National Policy Direction is currently open for feedback until 16 October 2026, and a draft will be open for formal submissions in 2027. National Standards setting out the structure and form of the Regional Spatial Plans are also due within this 12-month period.
• 18 months after enactment: National Standards will be issued setting out human health limits and the methodology for ecosystem health limits under the Natural Environment Act.
• 21 months after enactment: National Standards will be issued setting out standardised planning provisions for Land Use Plans. Draft Regional Spatial Plans must be notified for submissions by the later of:
  • 21 months after royal assent; or
  • 9 months after the National Policy Directions for both Acts are issued.
• 9 months after Regional Spatial Plans notified: Decisions on Regional Spatial Plans are due.
• 9 months after Regional Spatial Plan decisions: Land Use Plans and Natural Environment Plans will be notified for public submissions.

The Transition Period is expected to end by 2030, on a date set by Order in Council (Specified Transition Date). Once that date passes, the RMA will no longer apply. The date may be set nationally, or region by region, so that regions further ahead in the process can transition sooner. Before setting the Specified Transition Date, the Minister must be satisfied that Regional Spatial Plans have been decided, and that proposed Land Use Plans and Natural Environment Plans have been notified.

Material amendments to the RMA

The RMA will remain the primary resource management law for now, but a number of amendments to the RMA will apply from the start of the Transition Period. Three changes stand out: the narrowing of the RMA’s scope, the introduction of Initial National Standards into the RMA, and the continuation of the plan change pause. We explain each below.

Narrowing of the RMA’s scope

A number of environmental effects deemed ‘out of scope’ under the new system will be excluded from consideration under the RMA from the beginning of the Transition Period. These effects are:

• any of the following where they relate to residential activities (except in relation to the protection of historic heritage);
  • the area of glazing;
  • the presence or absence of balconies;
  • the outdoor living space;
  • the internal layout;
  • the size of a residential unit;
  • the size of landscaped areas (except in relation to permeability);
• negative effects of development on trade competition, including on competing providers of input goods and services;
• effects on retail distribution;
• in relation to a project;
  • any lack of demand for the project; or
  • the fact that the project is not financially viable;
• the type of residents to be housed in a new development; and
• views from private property.

Councils may amend their regional and district plans to remove consent requirements for these out-of-scope activities. They may also stop processing pending consent applications for these activities and treat them as permitted instead. These changes will be material for some projects, and it is likely that there will be some uncertainty for applicants and councils as they consider what is now within or outside the scope of assessment.

Initial National Standards

The Acts also introduce “Initial National Standards” – being new National Standards promulgated under the Acts that the Minister identifies as relevant to RMA decision-making during the Transition Period. The RMA will be amended to enable Initial National Standards to be applied and to be treated with the same procedural and legal weight as a national standard under the RMA across consenting, plan-making, designation, and enforcement provisions. If there is any conflict or duplication between an Initial National Standard and an RMA coastal policy statement, national policy statement, national environmental standard, regional policy statement, or a plan or proposed plan, the Initial National Standard prevails. However, the Acts have put safeguards in place. An Initial National Standard must not directly amend an RMA plan, direct a local authority to amend an RMA plan, or require a plan amendment outside the standard process set out in Schedule 1 of the RMA. This will be a key matter to watch as the National Standards are prepared.

Plan change pause

The current pause on plan changes under the RMA will continue until the end of the Transition Period. Further amendments to the RMA will prevent any private plan changes from being notified from 1 January 2028 until the Specified Transition Date. This restriction will be subject to Ministerial exemptions, much like the current RMA plan change pause.

Consenting during the Transition Period

The process for obtaining a resource consent or designation will not materially change during the Transition Period; the key difference will be the timing of the application. Resource consent and notice of requirement applications lodged before the Transition Period will be processed under the RMA as it currently stands. Applications lodged during the Transition Period will be processed under the RMA as it stands at the time of the application, including any amendments already in effect (such as the narrowing of the RMA’s scope).

Once the Acts are in full force, resource consents granted under the RMA will carry over as equivalent permissions under the new regime, on the same conditions. Consent holders who are relying on the RMA to continue operating under an expired consent while seeking a replacement may continue to do so during the Transition Period.

A similar approach will be taken for designations. Any designation that has been confirmed in a district plan before the Specified Transition Date will continue as a designation under the Planning Act and will be carried across into the new system. If a designation is confirmed under the RMA but is not included in a district plan before the Specified Transition Date, it must be included in an operative or proposed Land Use Plan. If no operative Land Use Plan exists, the designation must be treated as if it were already included in one, and cannot be changed by decisions on the proposed Land Use Plan.

Separately, consent holders whose resource consents are due to expire during the Transition Period may benefit from the Resource Management (Duration of Consents) Amendment Act 2025. This amendment allows consents that would otherwise expire between 1 October 2026 and 24 months after the Specified Transition Date to be extended to that 24-month mark. The Acts build on this, further enabling the Minister to recommend regulations that extend this window by a further 24 months (i.e. up to 48 months after the Specified Transition Date). This extension does not apply to water-related consents, which remain subject to a maximum duration of 35 years. We recommend seeking legal advice on any consents you hold that are due to expire within the next four years, so you are clear on your rights.

Fast-track consenting during the Transition Period

The Acts also make a number of amendments to the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (FTAA), most of which will come into force by Order in Council on a date that is not yet specified. The changes are largely administrative and designed to allow the Acts to seamlessly fit into the fast-track system.

However, one amendment to the FTAA took effect immediately after the Acts passed into law: a new framework specifying how fast-track consenting will apply during the Transition Period. Referral or substantive applications lodged before the Transition Period begins (i.e. before 30 October 2026) will be processed under the RMA and FTAA as they applied at the time of lodgement. Referral or substantive applications lodged during the Transition Period will instead be subject to the RMA as it stood at the time of lodgement, but the FTAA as it stood immediately before the Order in Council noted above took effect (rather than the FTAA as at the date of lodgement).

This provides more certainty for fast-track users, as the changes to integrate the FTAA with the new Acts will not apply during the Transition Period.

Compliance and enforcement during the Transition Period

Enforcement and compliance processes will remain largely unchanged during the Transition Period, apart from several RMA amendments taking effect on 30 October 2026, including:

• allowing the District Court or Environment Court to issue adverse publicity orders for non-compliance with the RMA. Offenders subject to such an order will be required to publicise details of their non-compliance, its environmental consequences, and any other penalties imposed; and
• increasing the maximum penalties for specific minor offences, such as excessive noise, by sums ranging from $500 to $5,000.

Any enforcement commenced under the RMA before the Specified Transition Date will continue under the RMA as it stood immediately before the Acts received royal assent.

If an enforcement order or infringement notice was issued under the RMA and is still in effect when the Specified Transition Date arrives, it will continue to have effect as if it had been issued under the new regime. Applications for enforcement orders that are lodged under the RMA but not decided before the Specified Transition Date will still be decided under the RMA, and any decision will continue to have effect under the new regime once the Specified Transition Date passes. Enforcement orders or infringement notices issued after the Specified Transition Date will be under the new regime, even if the conduct in question took place before the Specified Transition Date.

Once the new regime is in full force, a consenting or permitting authority may still take any enforcement action under the RMA into account when making a decision.

Please reach out to our experts if you have any questions on how the Transition Period will impact you.

This article was co-authored by Harry Bird, a Solicitor in our Environment team