Fast-track Approval Act 2024: We’ve been invited to comment, now what?

Words by Bayley Sprott

If you got an unexpected email last week about the VTM Taranaki Project (otherwise known as the Trans-Tasman Resources’ Seabed Mining Project), you’re not alone. A fast-track approvals panel has invited 28 groups and organisations – in addition to the mandatory invitees – to have their say. So if you were one of them, you might be asking: what happens now?

Each application being determined under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (and your response to that) will be unique, but here are some brief tips that we think are important for any commenters to keep in mind:

• Identify the current application stage: There are different points in the fast-track approvals process where comment might be requested. Each stage has its own timeframes and purpose, so it is essential you identify what stage the application has reached.

• Understand why you have been invited to comment: If you are finding it difficult to know where to start with your comments on a substantive application, it may help to consider why you might have been invited to comment. Where you don’t fall within one of the categories in section 53 of the Act, the panel might have considered it still “appropriate” for you to have a say based on factors like the type of community interests affected by the proposed project and any applications the applicant has made under other processes. For iwi, hapū, marae or Māori organisations specifically, panels likely will be looking to understand how an application affects matters of significance to you as well as whether the application accounts for relevant mātauranga and Treaty settlement obligations. If you can determine the likely reason for your involvement, this might provide a good starting point for your comments.

• Ensure your comments link into the unique considerations under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024: The fast-track approvals process will differ to what you may have previously encountered with other projects. The process and considerations are different to those under the Resource Management Act 1991 and other Acts relevant to the approvals sought. There only are limited grounds on which a panel might decline an approval such as the approval being one which doesn’t qualify for the fast-track process or the adverse effects in relation to the approval being out of proportion to the project’s regional or national benefits. Comments which clearly relate to one of these grounds are more likely to be effective in influencing the panel’s decision-making.

• Triple check the deadline: The fast-track approvals process has strict timeframes for response. If you miss the deadline on your invitation to comment, you will miss your opportunity to contribute since there is no ability to seek that this time limit be waived.

• You may be expected to work constructively with the applicant: The Panel Convenors have released guidance which sets out some expectations around parties’ involvement in the fast-track approvals process. This indicates that panels are likely to take a “quasi-inquisitorial” approach. In practice, this means that you might be expected to focus on potential solutions to your concerns about the project and work together with the applicant on things like the final form of any proposed conditions designed to address the project’s adverse effects. Also, some projects may be determined without any hearing or only have a hearing in respect of limited issues.

We are here to help: If you are unsure about how to best respond to an invitation to comment or need assistance with any other aspect of the fast-track approvals process, we can provide you with the support you need based on our experience with fast-track consenting as well as sound knowledge of the general resource management landscape.