Information document: New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme Draft Forestry Allocation Plan and Deforestation Exemption Policies for Pre-1990 Forest Land
Outline of NZ ETS Exemptions for Pre-1990 forest Land
NZ ETS Exemptions
Exemptions under the NZ ETS are available for:
• Forest land of less than 50 ha that was owned on 1 September 20075 by a person who owned less than 50 ha (details of the 50 ha exemption are provided on the following page).
• Deforestation of tree weeds on pre-1990 forest land in accordance with a Notice to be issued by the Director General of MAF, up to a limit of 0.8 million units in Commitment Period 1 (2008-2012). The Government does not wish the NZ ETS to restrict the removal of tree weeds. At future date(s), the Government will give public notice of the availability of exemption(s) in relation to the deforestation of tree weeds on pre-1990 forest land.
Deforestation of 2 ha or less of a person’s total pre-1990 landholding(s) in the 5 year period from 2008–2012, and each subsequent 5 year period, is automatically excluded from the NZ ETS.
Landowners who receive an allocation for a particular area of land will be able to deforest up to 2 ha in any 5 year period without liability, but will not be eligible for the tree weed exemption or the 50 ha exemption on that same area of land.
The 50 ha Exemption and its Relation to the Forestry Allocation
Effect of the 50 ha Exemption
The 50 ha exemption will help to ensure that the compliance and administration costs of the NZ ETS are not disproportionate to the environmental benefits.
If an exemption application is approved, the landowner will have the right to deforest the exempt land at any time without reporting the resulting emissions or surrendering NZUs.
A notice will appear on the computer register (title) or Māori Land Court record pertaining to the land, which will note that the land is exempt land. It will apply from the date of the exemption, and will stay attached to that land while that land remains exempt land, even if it is sold.
Pre-1990 forest land that has been granted an exemption will not be eligible for an allocation of NZUs under the Forestry Allocation Plan. Similarly, land which has received an allocation of NZUs can not be declared exempt land.
Exempt land that is deforested and then replanted or allowed to regenerate, can join the NZ ETS as post-1989 forest land, provided the NZUs that would have had to be surrendered if the deforested land had not been exempt, are voluntarily surrendered to the Government.
Eligibility for a 50 ha Exemption
There are two elements to determining eligibility for a 50 ha exemption: the eligibility of the land in question; and the eligibility of the landowner.
Eligibility of the land
For pre-1990 forest land to be eligible to receive an exemption under the 50 ha rule, it must have been owned on 1 September 2007 by a person or persons that owned in total less than 50 hectares of pre-1990 forest land (either individually or collectively). If the forest land was owned as tenants in common, each owner may apply for an exemption for their own share of the land provided it is less than 50 hectares.
Eligibility of the owner
As for allocation applications, it is the landowner on the date the finalised Forestry Allocation Plan is issued that must apply for the exemption – unless the land had been deforested between 1 January 2008 and the date the finalised Forestry Allocation Plan is issued, in which case the landowner who deforested must apply. This means that the applicant for the exemption might not be the current landowner. When applying for the exemption, the applicant will need to provide a statutory declaration from each person who owned the land on 1 September 2007 that they owned in total, on that date, less than 50 hectares of pre-1990 forest land.
Landowners that have applied for a free allocation of NZUs will be ineligible to receive an exemption for the same area of land and vice versa. If you wish to apply, you must choose between the two options. However in some instances you will be able to apply for an exemption for parts of your land holdings and a free allocation for other parts. For example:
• if you have bought land that is eligible for the 50 ha exemption after 1 September 2007 and also own other forest land, you can apply for the eligible parts of your forest landholdings to be exempt and apply for the remaining parts to receive an allocation; or
• if you own land that is eligible for the 50 ha exemption, you can apply for part of it to be exempt and part of it to receive an allocation.
The Exemption Application Process
Applications for exemption:
• must be made by 30 June 2009. This date is fixed in the Act, and late applications may only be accepted at the Director-General of MAF’s discretion.
• may be submitted by using MAF’s online application process (which will be available on MAF’s website www.maf.govt.nz/sustainable-forestry) or by downloading and completing a paper-based application form from that site.
The process for exemption applications has been aligned as much as possible with the allocation application process. Specifically:
• the rules determining which landowner (if the land has recently been bought and sold) has the right to apply for an exemption are the same as those for allocation applications, namely:
• where the land in question remains under forest on the date the finalised Forestry Allocation Plan is issued, the owner on that date will be responsible for submitting the exemption application;
• where the land in question has been deforested at some point between 1 January 2008 and the date the finalised Forestry Allocation Plan is issued, the owner of the land at the time that the deforestation occurred will be responsible for submitting the exemption application.
• similar information will be required, including:
• the name of the person who is applying for the exemption;
• evidence of ownership of the land on the date the Forestry Allocation Plan was issued, or date that the deforestation occurred (as applicable), in the form of all the computer freehold registers (titles) from LINZ, or other relevant records (such as Māori Land Court records) that pertain to the application;
• the total area of exotic pre-1990 forest land for which the exemption is sought;
• evidence that the land is pre-1990 forest land;
• a shapefile (see ‘Shapefile Requirements’ section below);
• a statutory declaration that each person that owned the land on 1 September 2007 (other than a joint tenant who is a professional trustee) owned with any associated persons less than 50 ha of pre-1990 forest land on 1 September 2007.
Exemption Application Shapefile Requirements
Applicants must provide a shapefile (refer to Annex 4 for a definition) that includes all pre-1990 forest land for which the exemption is being applied. MAF will provide an on-line tool for applicants to use to create a shapefile. Alternatively, applicants may upload their own shapefile from existing spatial data, so long as they comply with the format prescribed in a standard that will be published on MAF’s website soon.
Applications for an exemption will not incur a fee.
More information about the exemption application process is provided in MAF’s ‘Forestry in the Emissions Trading Scheme Guide’. You may also like to get more information by attending one of the public workshops to be organised by MAF (see ‘Public Workshops’ section above).
5 The fixed date of 1 September 2007 is necessary to avoid unlimited exemptions through subdivision and sale. This date was about the time this rule was proposed.
Contact for Enquiries
Emissions Trading Scheme
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 1127
Wellington
Or call us on 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)
