Submission on the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Bill
15 December 2011
The ocean around New Zealand is divided into two legal regimes. The territorial sea lies within 12 nautical miles of the coast and environmental issues are managed under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Beyond this New Zealand has environmental responsibilities for the ocean within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the extended continental shelf (ECS). Together the EEZ and the ECS cover an area over twenty times larger than New Zealand itself. There is no legislative equivalent of the RMA for managing the impacts of developing resources in this vast area.