Abatement notices
An abatement notice is a formal written notice that the Resource Management Act (RMA) specifies can only be issued by a warranted enforcement officer.
It requires certain actions to be taken, or to cease, within a specified time. It applies where that enforcement officer believes on reasonable grounds (on the balance of probabilities) that there is, or is likely to be, a contravention of the Resource Management Act (RMA) and/or an adverse effect on the environment.
There are two instances where an abatement notice may be issued:
- Incident response: An abatement notice may be issued in response to an environmental incident that breaches a permitted activity rule, or the RMA, but is not linked to a consent.
- Breach of consent: When an active consent condition is breached resulting in an adverse effect on the environment, an abatement notice can be issued under the consent.