15.2 Policies

1. requiring compliance with Parts 2 and 5 of the NZS 8409:2004 Management of Agrichemicals,
2. avoiding effects^ on human health,
3. avoiding or mitigating any unreasonable prevention or reduction in access to adjoining properties* or public land* because of agrichemical* spraying,
4. avoiding damage to non-target plants or animals, and
5. preventing any discharge^ that is likely to adversely affect sensitive areas including, but not limited to:
   1. residential buildings,
   2. public places and amenity areas where people congregate,
   3. education facilities,
   4. public roads*,
   5. surface water bodies^,
   6. wāhi tapu*, marae and other sites* of significance to hapū* and iwi*,
   7. domestic, commercial and public water supply* catchments and intakes,
   8. rare habitats*, threatened habitats* and at-risk habitats*, and
   9. sensitive crops or farming systems (including certified organically farmed properties* and greenhouses).
6. the matters in Policy 14-9.

Policy 15-2: Consent decision-making for other discharges^ into air

When making decisions on resource consent^ applications and setting consent conditions^ for discharges^ of contaminants^ into air, the Regional Council must have regard to:

1. the objectives and policies of Chapter 7 including:
   1. the degree of consistency with the approach set out in Policy 7-1 for implementing the National Environmental Standards^  for ambient air* quality,
   2. the degree of compliance with the regional standards for ambient air* quality set out in Policy 7-2, and
   3. for discharges^ of fine particles, the approaches for managing fine particles (PM₁₀*) in Policies 7-5, 7-6 and 7-7, and the likely contribution of the proposed discharge^ to cumulative adverse effects^ in an unacceptable airshed or degraded area as identified under these policies,
2. the guidelines in Section 15.3 for managing noxious, dangerous, offensive and objectionable effects^,
3. any national policy statements^, national regulations^, or nationally-accepted guidelines or codes of practice relevant to the activity, including the matters in Policy 14-9 for activities involving an ancillary discharge,
4. the location of the discharge^ in relation to, and any associated effects^ on, sensitive areas including, but not limited to:
   1. residential buildings,
   2. public places and amenity areas where people congregate,
   3. education facilities,
   4. public roads,
   5. surface water bodies^,
   6. wāhi tapu*, marae and other sites* of significance to hapū* and iwi*,
   7. domestic, commercial and public water supply* catchments and intakes,
   8. rare habitats*, threatened habitats* and at-risk habitats*, and
   9. sensitive crops or farming systems (including certified organically farmed properties* and greenhouses),
5. effects on scenic, landscape, heritage and recreational values,
6. the appropriateness of adopting the best practicable option^ to prevent or minimise adverse effects^ in circumstances where:
   1. numerical guidelines or standards establishing a level of protection for a receiving environment^ are not available or cannot easily be established,
   2. insufficient monitoring data is available to establish the existing air quality with sufficient certainty, or
   3. the likely adverse effects^ are minor, and the costs associated with adopting the best practicable option^ are small in comparison to the costs of investigating the likely effects^ on air quality,
7. the need for contingency measures to avoid accidental discharges^, including discharges^ arising from mechanical failure, and
8. adverse effects^ on aircraft^ safety from high velocity vertical discharges^ to air.