Cleanfills
As the name suggests, cleanfills can only accept clean "non-polluting" waste. This means that material like concrete, dirt, bitumen and some construction rubble is ok. Materials like household rubbish, old timber, car wrecks, reinforcing steel or corrugated iron is not ok. Non-clean waste must be disposed of at a landfill.
Cleanfill operations don't have problems with leachate, landfill gas, odour, rats and so on. This means that, provided they only accept clean waste, the Regional Council doesn't require any resource consent for them to operate. Landfills must have site-specific management plans and the Regional Council requires them to make sure that contaminants in the waste do not leak out and pollute the environment, or affect people's health.
Cleanfills are controlled in the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land. Discharges of dust associated with cleanfills are controlled in the Regional Air Quality Management Plan. The deposition of material in rivers and lakes is controlled in the Regional Freshwater Plan. The deposition of material in the coastal marine area is controlled in the Regional Coastal Plan.
The Ministry for the Environment prepared a guide to the management of cleanfills in January 2002. This can be downloaded from their web site.
Discharges to land
Rule 1 of the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land permits the discharge of cleanfill to land provided no contaminant from the discharge will enter water.
Rule 2 requires a discharge permit to discharge any contaminant to land unless the discharge is allowed by Rule 1. This is a discretionary activity.
Rule 9 of the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land permits domestic and farm landfills, rubbish dumps and tips provided they comply with the conditions in the rule.
Rule 10 of the Regional Plan for Discharges to Land requires a discharge permit for discharges of waste that is not cleanfill, and not allowed by Rule 9. This is a discretionary activity.
Discharges to air
Rule 23 of the Regional Air Quality Management Plan requires a discharge permit for all waste transfer stations, and landfills that do not comply with the conditions in Rule 21. This rule also applies to cleanfill operations. This is a discretionary activity.
Deposition in, on or under rivers and lakes
Rule 49 of the Regional Freshwater Plan requires a land use consent to deposit any substance in, on or under the bed of a river or lake. This is a discretionary activity.
Deposition in, on or under the foreshore or seabed
Rule 47 of the Regional Coastal Plan requires a coastal permit to deposit any substance in, on or under the foreshore or seabed of the coastal marine area within any Area of Significant Conservation Value. This is a non-complying activity.
Rule 48 of the Regional Coastal Plan requires a coastal permit to deposit any substance in, on or under the foreshore or seabed of the coastal marine area outside any Area of Significant Conservation Value. This is a discretionary activity.