$10 million fines for breaching the RMA

The Government has made substantial changes to the enforcement provisions in the Resource Management Act (RMA), including increasing the maximum penalties for offending. 

It is just one of the law changes that comes into effect today (21 August 2025) to enforce protection of the environment.   

“Waikato businesses that interact with the environment need to be even more vigilant,” warned Waikato Regional Council compliance manager Patrick Lynch. “A very significant law change has occurred today that puts a major focus on those who breach environmental regulation. 

“Up until yesterday a breach of the Resource Management Act could have resulted in a maximum fine of $600,000 against a company, and that maximum penalty has now leapt a whopping 1600 per cent,” said Mr Lynch.

• Other significant changes that are now in effect include:
• The maximum term of imprisonment for breaching the RMA reduces from 2 years to 18 months. 
• The maximum fine increases to $1 million for an individual who breaches the RMA, from $300,000. 
• Fees can be applied for certain compliance monitoring activities.
• A history of non-compliance can be considered during resource consent applications.
• Non-compliance with a resource consent can trigger a review of that consent.
• An enforcement order can be sought to revoke or suspend a resource consent for particularly serious non-compliance. 

“It will take some time for the impacts of these changes to become known, but what is important for the Waikato community to understand is that the consequences for serious breaches of environmental regulation are far more severe today than they were yesterday.”