An awful lot has happened this year with HSNO – and I’m not just talking about the law changes for New Organisms. Things are really moving too for the hazardous substances part of the Act, in a positive direction.

In June this year I announced the Hazardous Substances Strategy and it was received positively from all sectors. The Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) Press release said that ‘Manufacturers and chemical suppliers, including those for farmers, are dancing on the shop floors over this announcement’ – an interesting image…..

I had been concerned about a lack of direction in hazardous substance policy. The transfer of hazardous substances to the HSNO regime seemed to be ”wheel spinning”. So I asked my officials to come back to me with a plan for the next two years that would get things moving again.

The strategy they came back with, drafted with the help of industry and local government specialists, contains short-term actions designed to demonstrate progress and to reinstate some of the faith lost on the part of the industry due to earlier delays in putting the hazardous substances framework in place. The strategy announced in June also contains some longer-term work that is needed to keep things on the right track after transfer is complete, particularly in the enforcement area and the role of local government in enforcement.

Since June - we have completed four of the strategy’s short-term goals: the first hazardous substances transfer to HSNO, two separate lots of funding and an amendment bill.

First out of the blocks was the transfer of explosives on 28 August 2003. True, the transfer involved only a relatively small group of substances. Nevertheless it was useful because it let us see how HSNO works in practice – rather than in theory.

Secondly we have allocated more funding for the Environmental Risk Management Authority to reduce the application fees costs and allow ERMA to set fixed fees. So a rapid assessment for a hazardous substance now costs a fixed $500. Having fixed fees that an applicant can budget for in advance was seen by industry as extremely helpful.

As well, we have approved enforcement funding for ERMA that we think will help territorial authorities keep their skilled hazardous substance people on staff. This funding is an interim step and gives us time to work on a long-term solution to keep territorial authorities involved in HSNO. As I have said at your previous conferences, “territorial authorities (TAs) are an important part of the hazardous substance system”. After all, they have the local knowledge that can be absolutely vital in an emergency situation. By encouraging TAs to work together and by enabling the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) and ERMA to contract work to them through this extra funding, there are now good reasons for a TA to retain people with hazardous substances skills on their teams.

Finally an amendment bill is about to be introduced into the House that will give the transfer of substances a further boost. The bill allows ERMA to make sensible variations to the default controls for a substance when transferring it from the old regime to the new. The example you are probably all familiar with is petrol. Currently because of its hazardous properties, petrol attracts the ‘approved handler’ control. In effect this control would put an end to self-service petrol stations. So ERMA needs the ability to delete this default control.

Another example is 1080, which is to be reassessed under HSNO. Currently, medical officers of health control aerial 1080 drops on a case-by-case basis. Without changes to HSNO, this situation would not be able to continue. So the bill also includes provisions giving ERMA the discretion to apply existing rules as HSNO controls, IF, during the reassessment process, the Authority believes this is appropriate. I understand that you are discussing 1080 this afternoon so this provision will no doubt come up. Also important for substances such as 1080, is the provision in the bill for ERMA to require that approved handlers of some "high-concern" substances are ‘fit and proper’ persons.

Another provision of the bill allows ERMA to add a control to a substance that is not currently listed in the control regulations, if ERMA considers that this new control would be a more cost-effective way of managing the risks posed by the substance. For example, the controls for limiting environmental exposure do not take account of the case of antifouling paints. Cost effective controls need to be applied when people are scraping their hulls before a repaint.

The bill will be passed early next year to allow for the scheduled transfer of dangerous goods on 1 April 2004. I am confident this amendment bill will really get the transfer programme back on track.

So that is four items completed since I announced the strategy in June this year. Things are moving and we are making progress.

Work is still going on to complete the hazardous substance regulations. The technical specifications for bulk tanks have been completed and ERMA and the Ministry for the Environment are planning to publicly consult on these in November and early December. Regulations for compressed gas and tank wagons are working their way through the government process at the moment and Ministry staff will talk about all three sets of regulations in some detail this afternoon.

The longer-term work will be tied together in a discussion paper that I will release in December this year for you to ponder over the holidays and during February.

You will be particularly interested in the compliance and enforcement area. We are looking at clarifying the roles of ERMA, the territorial authorities and regional councils in this regard. However the paper will also cover proposals to make controls easier to understand, and ways to encourage lower-risk hazardous substances into the country.

All this gives me confidence that we are dealing systematically with the initial concerns raised by industry and enforcement officers such as yourselves, and that we will have workable legislation operating effectively as we head towards 1 April 2004 and the transfer of dangerous goods.

Finally I want to acknowledge and thank those of you who are putting your energy into making the hazardous substance regime work. As I say every year and will continue to say as long as I am in this role, it is only through your continued work and support that we can make New Zealand a safer and less hazardous place. Thank you.