26 March 2026
Ref: OIA 26006
Stephen Jones
[FYI request #33541 email]
Tēnā koe Stephen
I refer to your request for official information received on 18 January 2026 for information held
by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) relating to environmental monitoring,
chemical oversight, or regulatory interactions involving Defence-related facilities or
contractors.
On 10 February 2026, you refined your request to:
“I am wil ing to refine the request in order to assist the EPA to respond, while preserving the
underlying purpose of the inquiry, which is to understand what environmental monitoring,
chemical oversight, or regulatory interaction (if any) the EPA has had in relation to Defence
facilities or Defence-contracted activities.
To assist, I propose the following clarification and refinement.
Scope refinement (by function rather than incident):
Rather than seeking all potentially relevant material across the organisation, the request can
be treated as limited to information held by the EPA in connection with its statutory functions,
including but not limited to:
- HSNO approvals, reassessments, compliance, enforcement, or monitoring;
- hazardous substance or chemical regulation relevant to Defence estates or Defence
contractors;
- incident notifications, complaints, or regulatory interactions where Defence facilities or
Defence-contracted activities were the subject.
Timeframe refinement (segmented rather than truncated):
If helpful for manageability, the request can be processed in stages, for example:
- 2010–2025 as a primary period; and
- earlier material (2000–2009) limited to any high-level records, incident notifications, or
approvals of ongoing relevance”.
On 12 February 2026 we extended the timeframe for deciding on your request until 27 March
2026 because your request is for a large quantity of information.
Under section 3(2) of the
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act)
the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is not directly subject to the HSNO Act. That is, it
does not apply to any hazardous substance controlled by the Minister of Defence.
While there are some caveats to this under sections 3(3) to 3(8) of the HSNO Act, the EPA
does not have a regulatory role in the NZDF’s compliance with the HSNO legislation.
However, the EPA does hold some information in scope of your request. The following
information is being provided to you in summary form under
section 16(1)(e) of the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA):
1. HSNO Act
Under the HSNO Act any transhipment of goods that either does not have an approval or
cannot comply with the relevant approval while transhipping in New Zealand, must get a
transhipment approval. Under this approval, the material must be exported out of New
Zealand within 20 working days of importing it.
As with most ships, while it is in New Zealand, some goods are removed. The NZDF has
noted in seven applications since 2018, as having goods on board a ship that is transhipping
goods that require a transhipment approval within New Zealand.
2. IERA (Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988)
New Zealand is Party to the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal, implemented domestically through the Imports and Exports
(Restrictions) Prohibition Order No2 2004 (IERPO). These agreements were put in place to
manage shipments of hazardous waste to prevent harm to human health and the environment
across the world. To export some types of waste out of New Zealand, you need a permit.
In 2017/18, Ace Ship Recycling Private Limited applied to export the ex-HMNZS Endeavour to
India, having bought the ship from the NZDF, for ship-breaking and recycling under IERPO
due to the hazardous nature of certain ship components and contents. The NZDF signed the
application as contacts.
3. OLPA (Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996)
New Zealand is Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer,
implemented domestically through Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 (OLPA).
The NZDF regularly applies for import exemptions under OLPA to import
bromotrifluoromethane (halon 1301) and bromochlorodifluoromethane (halon 1211) in fire
extinguishers necessary for human health or safety.
Since 2011, we have received 17 of these applications (references beginning with OLPAI) and
the information provided below can also be found in the OLPA Parliamentary reports, on the
Parliament website.
The NZDF has also applied for one export application (OLPAE-0000079), in 2018, to export
bulk halon 1301 contained within the ex-HMNZS Endeavour (see the application under IERA
above).
Information on these applications is provided in Appendix A
Our records show there have been two instances of unintentional Halon release by the NZDF,
which they alerted the EPA to. This happened in Canada in 2019 and 2021 during
maintenance activities being undertaken by a NZDF navy ship. In both cases, the EPA
determined no non-compliance had occurred and the cases were closed.
4. PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances)
You may also be interested in this information from the Ministry for the Environment’s website,
which provides updates on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS):
https:/ environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/areas-of-work/land/per-and-poly-
fluoroalkyl-substances-pfas/latest-updates-on-pfas/ The Al of Government PFAS Programme was convened after PFAS contamination was found
at some Defence facilities around the country. NZDF were responsible for the environmental
investigations, and all the reports are available on the Ministry’s website as they led the Al of
Government group.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision
under section 28(3) of the OIA. You can contact the Ombudsman on 0800 802 602, or by
email at [email address]
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us via
[email address]
We may publish your request and our response on our website,
www.epa.govt.nz. We make
OIA responses available so others can read more about the work we do and the questions we
are asked. Any information that might identify you wil be removed to protect your privacy.
Nāku noa nā
Dr Lauren Fleury
Manager Hazardous Substances Applications
Appendix A: NZDF applications under OLPA (Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996)
Reference number Year
Substance
Quantity (MT) Notes
Export on the ex-HMNZS
OLPAE-0000079
2018
Bromotrifluoromethane
1.1125
Endeavour
First one since the EPA took over
Bromotrifluoromethane
1.64
OLPAI-0000002
2011
OLPA
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.2830
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Likely to be the same as OLPAI-2 but the
OLPAI-0000005
2012
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
records are not retrievable.
Bromotrifluoromethane
1.64
OLPAI-0000038
2013
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.2830
Bromotrifluoromethane
1.645
OLPAI-0000071
2014
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.2830
Bromotrifluoromethane
4.5610
OLPAI-0000095
2014
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.3270
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000124
2016
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000148
2017
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
OLPAI-0000150
2017
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.0950
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000174
2018
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000206
2019
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000245
2020
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000281
2021
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000311
2022
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000331
2023
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000358
2024
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
OLPAI-0000377
2024
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.3250
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromotrifluoromethane
0.05
OLPAI-0000393
2025
Necessary Aerosol/Extinguisher
Bromochlorodifluoromethane 0.05
