B-1 - Area 1, Coromandel Forest Park – Assessment of Environmental Effects 102 7.5 REGIONAL POLICY STATEMENTS 7.5.1 Waikato Regional Policy Statement The RPS provides an overview of the resource management issues for the Waikato Region, and sets out objectives, policies and methods intended to achieve the integrated management of natural and physical resources. The key topics in the RPS relevant to Area 1 include: Air quality; Freshwater bodies; Riparian areas and wetlands; Historic and cultural heritage; Indigenous biodiversity and ecosystem services; Landscape, natural character and amenity; Natural hazards; and Soils. These topics are discussed in the sub-sections that follow. OGNZL continues to work with tangata whenua regarding the effects of the project on cultural values. For this reason, provisions with the RPS regarding cultural values have been assessed at a high level within Section 9 of the Overarching AEE. This will be further developed as consultation progresses and cultural impact assessments have been completed. 7.5.1.1 Air Quality Objective 3.11 of the RPS relates to the management of air quality. It seeks that air quality be managed so that where existing air quality is better than national environmental standards for ambient air, any degradation is as low as reasonably achievable, so it avoids unacceptable risks to human health and ecosystems. It also seeks to avoid (where practicable) adverse effects on local amenity values. Policies 5.2 and 5.3 follow this approach and specify that: Discharges to air are to be managed to ensure any degradation avoids unacceptable risks to human health, and is as low as reasonably achievable;14 and 14 Policy 5.2, Waikato Regional Policy Statement.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE2NDg3