ENVIRON IMPACT ASSESS REV 1993;13:89-108 89 FEATURE FROM LAW TO PRACTICE: EIA IN NEW ZEALAND BurreH E. Montz Department of Geology and Environmental Studies, SUNY-Binghamton. Jennifer E. Dixon Department of Geography. University of Waikato. Hamilton, New Zealand Introdouetion Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has undergone significant changes in New Zealand, marked by the passage of the Resource Management Act 1991. Some preview of these changes was presented in Morgan (1988), the most notable being the move from a set of procedures for environmental assessment to mandatory requirements for local authorities to assess the environmental effects of applications for resource consents. The purpose of this paper is not to review the new requirements in detail, but rather to evaluate the changes as they will be applied by practitioners, specifically planners in local authorities. There are two components to the successful implementation of the process of EIA in New Zealand: statutory requirements and interpretation of those requirements by practitioners. This paper deals with the latter, but presents some of the former as they affect practice. It must be noted at the outset that many of the issues presented in this paper will eventually be resolved by legal decisions. Until that time, however, planners must make day-to-day decisions on these same issues. Thus, not only does this paper address the changing nature of the practice of EIA in New Zealand, but it also points up issues of definition and interpretation that will likely occupy time in the courts for the next several years. The introduction of mandatory assessment of environmental effects represents three major shifts in traditional planning practice. First, the Resource Management Act requires a greater emphasis on the evaluation of environmental effects of activities rather than the regulation of land use activities, as provided for under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977. Second, the Act signals a shift from concern with planning as a process to planning as a means of achieving Address requestsfor reprints to; Bun'ell E. Moatz. Department of Geology and Environmental Studies. SUNY-Binghamton. Binghamton. NY 13902-6000. © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishing Co,. Inc. 655 Avenue of the Americas. New York. NY 10010 0195-9255/93156 00