Dairy farmers face $10m environmental fines many may not know about

Summarised by Centrist

The maximum environmental fine facing farming companies has increased from $600,000 to $10 million, but rural advisers warn many dairy farmers remain unaware of the scale of their potential exposure.

Individuals can now be fined up to $1 million, increased from the previous maximum of $300,000.

The higher penalties apply to offences under the Resource Management Act, including unlawful dairy-effluent discharges.

Dairy and forestry operations are among the main targets of regional council compliance work because effluent failures and earthworks can contaminate waterways.

The legislation has also made it unlawful to insure against RMA fines or infringement fees. Insurance can still cover legal representation, expert assistance and some remediation costs, but offenders must pay the fine themselves.

Parliament increased the maximum corporate penalty more than sixteen-fold without establishing a new sentencing framework.

Courts must therefore apply existing sentencing principles while determining how far penalties should increase.

Law firm Wotton Kearney said prosecutors in a recent proceeding sought a tenfold uplift on the ranges previously applied to comparable offending. The court’s decision is still awaited.

Historically, moderate offending by smaller commercial operators attracted starting points between $50,000 and $100,000 before reductions for guilty pleas, remediation and previous good character.

The maximum is reserved for the most serious offending and does not mean an accidental or minor breach will automatically attract a multimillion-dollar penalty.

However, a serious discharge could now create a liability large enough to threaten the survival of a family farming company.

Farmers are being advised to treat effluent infrastructure, monitoring and compliance records as major financial safeguards rather than routine operating matters.

Read more at Stuff and Wotton Kearney

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