Preparation of Environmental Impact Assessments: General guidelines for offshore mining and drilling with particular reference to New Zealand

Abstract

Interest in offshore hydrocarbon and minerals exploration is growing rapidly as investors identify the potential economic returns from New Zealand’s rich marine resources. The challenge for management agencies is how to facilitate development of these natural resources while ensuring environmental sustainability is not compromised. In 2012 the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment funded NIWA to lead a research project entitled “Enabling management of offshore mining through improved understanding of environmental impacts”. This research programme aimed to develop, validate and implement science-based guidelines for effective environmental management of offshore mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, as well as address some critical gaps in our understanding of the environmental impacts of mining operations on New Zealand’s marine estate. The first research aim of the project included the development of a generic template for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and guidelines for its use that could be used by any offshore mining or drilling company to guide the preparation of an assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed operation. These were initially produced in 2014, but have been revised and updated for this guidance document that accompanies the generic EIA template for offshore mining and drilling activities. It is important to note that the template and guidance have been prepared in the joint context of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (the EEZ Act) and the broader Pacific context where activities in ‘The Area’ are managed. An international need for a consistent approach to assessment of environmental impacts has been identified and addressed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the Pacific Community (SPC) in their own developing EIA templates. The template and guidance presented here draws lessons from that international best practice but provides direct reference to New Zealand’s own legislation. The guidance is not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive. Each resource and each location will have its own set of circumstances that are best described and assessed in a particular way. However, the document covers aspects that should be in every EIA, and provides general guidance to the content in each section of the template. It includes a background to the project and the purpose of this guidance document; outlines (and appends in full) the EIA template; provides general advice on how to prepare an EIA; and then details specific guidance on template sections. The report also contains a list of references cited in various sections to help the reader access important sources of information, a glossary of key terms and abbreviations, and a table containing useful websites for further information. The document focusses on guidance for environmental and ecological assessment of impacts. The template includes sections and subsections on social, economic, and cultural issues, and in doing so follows the recent production of an EIA template by the ISA. These issues are often treated separately, and how that is addressed can be evaluated for each specific case. Their inclusion here attempts to progress the concept of a more integrated impacts assessment, even though provision of advice on them was beyond the scope of the existing study. A related report covering the scientific research requirements for baseline surveys and monitoring programmes has been developed between NIWA and the SPC, and provides more specific detail than given in this higher-level document.