The bill repeals the statutory establishment of the Ministry for the Environment and transfers its statutory functions to a redefined Secretary for the Environment (the chief executive of whatever departmental entity the Prime Minister designates to administer the Environment Act). It removes Ministry-specific appointment and staffing provisions that duplicate the Public Service Act 2020, inserts transitional rules to disestablish the Ministry, and makes consequential amendments across a range of Acts to replace references to the Ministry with references to the Secretary or to the department that will administer the relevant Act.
This is a machinery‑of‑government bill that enables a planned consolidation of several agencies (including functions from Housing and Urban Development, Transport, and some local government functions) into a single, broader ministry through secondary instruments under the Public Service Act 2020 while preserving the Environment Act’s substantive functions and the Secretary’s obligation to have regard to the matters in section 17. For practitioners, the bill shifts statutory point‑of‑contact from a named Ministry to a statutory officer and updates cross‑references in key resource, waste, maritime, and planning statutes.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill repeals the Environment Act provision that creates the Ministry for the Environment, defines the Secretary for the Environment as the chief executive of the department that the Prime Minister authorises to administer the Act, and transfers the Ministry’s statutory functions and duties to that Secretary. It inserts a transitional schedule disestablishing the Ministry and adds a Schedule listing other Acts under which the Secretary may exercise functions.
Who It Affects
Central government agencies that will be consolidated into the new ministry (elements of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Transport, and some Department of Internal Affairs functions), statutory officers and chief executives, and any entity or practitioner dealing with statutory consents and functions under Acts amended to reference the Secretary. It also touches agencies named in the Public Service Act 2020 schedules.
Why It Matters
The bill changes how environmental functions are anchored in statute—moving from a named ministry to a statutory chief executive and using the Legislation Act’s default definitions—so obligations, accountability lines, and cross‑Act references become more flexible but less tied to a single named agency. That affects legal responsibility for consents, regulatory administration, and where accountability sits after consolidation.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill removes the statutory body called the Ministry for the Environment and replaces it with a statutory officeholder, the Secretary for the Environment. Rather than creating a new Ministry by name, the Secretary is defined as the chief executive of whatever department, departmental agency, or interdepartmental venture the Prime Minister designates to administer the Environment Act.
The Environment Act’s functions and the duty to have regard to section 17 are retained, but the legal holder of those responsibilities becomes the Secretary rather than the Ministry entity itself.
To make the technical change clean, the bill deletes duplicated appointment and staffing provisions that are already covered by the Public Service Act 2020. It also repeals the specific section that established the Ministry and replaces several references throughout Part 2 so that all of the Ministry’s functions, committee arrangements, and duties now sit with the Secretary.
The bill adds a transitional Schedule (Schedule 1) that formally disestablishes the Ministry and preserves continuity of functions during the changeover.The bill anticipates a broader machinery‑of‑government consolidation: it signals that functions from other agencies (notably housing, transport, and some local government functions) will be consolidated into a single new ministry by secondary instruments under the Public Service Act. To connect existing statutory regimes, the bill inserts a Schedule 3 that lists several Acts—including the Resource Management Act 1991, Waste Minimisation Act 2008, and Climate Change Response Act 2002—under which the Secretary may exercise functions, and it requires the Secretary to have regard to the Environment Act’s section 17 matters when acting under those Acts.Finally, Part 2 contains consequential amendments across a range of statutes to remove or replace the phrase “Ministry for the Environment” with either the Secretary or a generic reference to the department that the Prime Minister empowers to administer those Acts.
The bill also removes the Ministry from the Public Service Act 2020 schedules, which is a housekeeping step reflecting the statutory disestablishment.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Act comes into force on 1 July 2026 and formally disestablishes the Ministry for the Environment via a new transitional Schedule 1.
Section 29 is replaced so the Secretary for the Environment is explicitly responsible to the Minister for performing the Secretary’s functions and for ensuring compliance with section 32 obligations.
The bill repeals the statutory creation of the Ministry (section 28) and removes Ministry‑specific staffing and appointment provisions that duplicate the Public Service Act 2020.
Schedule 3 lists the principal Acts under which the Secretary may exercise functions (including the Resource Management Act 1991, Waste Minimisation Act 2008, and Climate Change Response Act 2002) and brings those functions under the Secretary’s obligation to have regard to section 17.
Part 2 makes consequential amendments across multiple Acts (for example, the Public Service Act 2020, Resource Management Act, Maritime Transport Act, and Fast‑track Approvals Act) replacing references to the Ministry with either the Secretary or the department empowered by the Prime Minister to administer the relevant Act.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Effective date for disestablishment
The bill specifies a single commencement date: 1 July 2026. Practically, that creates a fixed cut‑over date for administrative transfers, legal continuity of functions, and the application of the transitional provisions in Schedule 1. Any consents, delegations, or statutory relationships that refer to the Ministry will need to be treated as continuing under the Secretary from that date.
Replace Ministry/Minister definitions with Legislation Act defaults and redefine Secretary
The bill repeals the internal definitions of Minister and Ministry so the Legislation Act 2019 default meanings apply. It also redefines 'Secretary' to mean the chief executive of the Ministry that, with the PM’s authority, administers the Environment Act. That drafting choice deliberately makes references to the administering entity flexible and tied to the Prime Minister’s designation rather than to a named ministry.
Remove statutory Ministry and redundant staffing/appointment rules
Section 28 (which established the Ministry) is repealed and section 30 (staffing) is removed because those governance matters are now governed by the Public Service Act 2020. Clause 9 replaces section 29 so the Secretary’s accountability to the Minister is focused on statutory functions and compliance duties, eliminating duplicative appointment language.
Transfer Ministry functions and s17 duties to the Secretary
The bill amends the wording of section 31 and section 32 so that the functions previously ascribed to the Ministry and the obligation to have regard to section 17 are now duties of the Secretary. In practice that means the Secretary (as chief executive of the designated administering entity) takes over regulatory, advisory, and consent‑related roles previously exercised by the Ministry.
Formal disestablishment and transitional continuity
Schedule 1 contains the single, operative transitional provision: the Ministry for the Environment is disestablished. The Schedule functions as the statutory vehicle to ensure the Ministry’s legal existence ceases while preserving the continuity of its functions through transfer to the Secretary, but it does not itself set out detailed staff, asset, or liability transfer mechanics—those are expected to be addressed administratively under the Public Service Act framework.
List of Acts conferring functions and cross‑Act wording changes
Schedule 3 lists the Acts that may confer functions on the Secretary and includes significant statutes such as the Resource Management Act 1991 and Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Part 2 implements targeted textual amendments across numerous statutes—removing 'for the Environment', replacing references with the administering department or the Secretary, and deleting the Ministry from the Public Service Act 2020 schedules—ensuring other regimes reference the correct legal entity after disestablishment.
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Explore Environment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Government central agencies seeking administrative consolidation — the bill gives the executive greater flexibility to consolidate functions under a single chief executive by using the Prime Minister’s authority and Public Service Act mechanisms.
- The Secretary for the Environment (statutory office) — gains clear statutory ownership of the Environment Act’s functions and the cross‑Act obligation to have regard to section 17 when acting under listed Acts.
- Regulated practitioners and consent applicants — will have continuity of statutory relationships because functions transfer to a named statutory officer rather than being left undefined, reducing legal uncertainty about which office exercises delegated authorities.
- Legal drafters and agencies conducting future machinery‑of‑government changes — benefit from the template of replacing Ministry‑specific references with generic, Legislation Act–based definitions, simplifying consequential amendment drafting.
Who Bears the Cost
- Staff and units absorbed into the consolidated ministry — face reorganisation, role changes, and transitional HR and cultural costs as functions from Housing, Transport, and local government are consolidated.
- Other departments and agencies with inter‑agency agreements — will need to update delegations, memoranda of understanding, and regulatory interfaces to reflect the Secretary as the responsible legal entity.
- Compliance officers and counsel — must audit statutory references, consents, and delegations to ensure they point to the correct administering entity after the repeal of the named Ministry and across the amended Acts.
- Parliamentary and oversight bodies — may need to adapt scrutiny and reporting arrangements where oversight was structured around a named Ministry rather than a Secretary/departmental arrangement.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill trades statutory clarity and an independent ministry name for administrative flexibility: it makes it easier for the executive to group functions under one chief executive, but risks diluting the distinct statutory identity and focused accountability that a named Ministry for the Environment provided—creating a tension between efficient government design and preserved institutional prominence for environmental stewardship.
The bill resolves a narrow drafting problem—how to remove a ministry created by statute—by moving duties to a statutory Secretary and relying on the Prime Minister’s authority and the Public Service Act for the actual organisational consolidation. That approach preserves statutory functions but substitutes a more flexible, executive‑driven mechanism for identifying the administering entity, which increases adaptability at the cost of statutory specificity.
The bill does not itself set out the administrative transfers of staff, assets, liabilities, or delegations; those are left to secondary instruments and administrative processes under the Public Service Act, which creates implementation risk if those processes are not synchronised with the statutory cut‑over date.
Because the Secretary must have regard to section 17 matters when exercising functions under the Acts listed in Schedule 3, the bill extends that duty beyond the Environment Act. That broad application raises practical questions about how competing policy priorities—for example, housing or transport objectives within a single consolidated ministry—will be reconciled with environmental considerations.
The drafting also leans on generic references (the department 'that, with the authority of the Prime Minister, is responsible') which reduce the transparency of statutory accountability: stakeholders will need to track separate secondary instruments to know which legal entity holds responsibilities at any given time.
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