Functions, Powers, and Duties of Local Authorities

   30. Functions of regional councils under this Act---(1) Every regional
 council shall have the following functions for the purpose of giving
 effect to this Act in its region:
   (a) The establishment, implementation, and review of objectives,
         policies, and methods to achieve integrated management of the
         natural and physical resources of the region:
   (b) The preparation of objectives and policies in relation to any
         actual or potential effects of the use, development, or
         protection of land which are of regional significance:
   (c) The control of the use of land for the purpose of---
           (i) Soil conservation:
           (ii) The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water
         in water bodies and coastal water:
           (iii) The maintenance of the quantity of water in water bodies
         and coastal water:
           (iv) The avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards:
           (v) The prevention or mitigation of any adverse effects of the
         storage, use, disposal, or transportation of hazardous
         substances:
   (d) In respect of any coastal marine area in the region, the control
         (in conjunction with the Minister of Conservation) of---
           (i) Land and associated natural and physical resources:
           (ii) The occupation of space on lands of the Crown or lands
         vested in the regional council, that are foreshore or seabed and
         the extraction of sand, shingle, or other natural material from
         that land:
           (iii) The taking, use, damming, and diversion of water:
           (iv) Discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air, or
         water and discharges of water into water:
           (v) Any actual or potential effects of the use, development,
         or protection of land, including the avoidance or mitigation of
         natural hazards and the prevention or mitigation of any adverse
         effects of the storage, use, disposal, or transportation of
         hazardous substances:
           (vi) The emission of noise and the mitigation of the effects
         of noise:
           (vii) Activities in relation to the surface of water:
   (e) The control of the taking, use, damming, and diversion of water,
         and the control of the quantity, level, and flow of water in any
         water body, including---
           (i) The setting of any maximum or minimum levels or flows of
         water:
           (ii) The control of the range, or rate of change, of levels or
         flows of water:
           (iii) The control of the taking or use of geothermal energy:
   (f) The control of discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air,
         or water and discharges of water into water:
   (g) In relation to any bed of a water body, the control of the
         introduction or planting of any plant in, on, or under that
         land, for the purpose of---
           (i) Soil conservation:
           (ii) The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water
         in that water body:
           (iii) The maintenance of the quantity of water in that water
         body:
           (iv) The avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards:
   (h) Any other functions specified in this Act.

   (2) The functions of the regional council and the Minister of
 Conservation in subsection (1) (d) (i) do not apply to the control of
 the harvesting or enhancement of populations of aquatic organisms, where
 the purpose of that control is to conserve, enhance, protect, allocate,
 or manage any fishery controlled by the Fisheries Act 1983.