NES has established a small unit within its Environmental Compliance Department to prepare for the upcoming Seabed Minerals Environment Regulations. It is essential to have dedicated individuals to manage and regulate activities that may cause significant impact to the environment.
Vavia Tangatataia, Manager of Environmental Compliance, will oversee this unit amongst various sectors that require environmental sign off. Junior Tapoki, Hugh Henry and Eva Patai, are the three main NES frontline staff designated to serve its environmental regulatory role in seabed minerals activities.
Junior Tapoki, Senior Environmental Compliance Officer, is responsible for monitoring and management plans. This role requires him to ensure that all seabed mineral activities comply with the environmental permits issued under the Act and Regulations. He will be working closely with the other officers and stakeholders to ensure the appropriate plans and measures are put in place to manage any environmental risks associated with seabed mineral activities.
Hugh Henry, Environmental Compliance Officer, is responsible for compliance processes and applications. This roles requires the officer to ensure that all applications meet the required criteria before the assessment and review process takes place. Hugh will be working closely with technical experts and legal advisors to uphold the integrity of the application process. NES has a Tier system approach to environmental compliance applications. The documentation for seabed minerals activities is currently being developed to support the new regulations.
Eva Patai, Environmental Compliance Officer, is designated to the science field and research component of the seabed minerals activities. to which her role requires to provide scientific advice and recommendations to the unit. Eva will work closely with science teams and experts to ensure scientific data collected is incorporated into the monitoring and management plans for seabed minerals activities.
It is essential to have capacity building incorporated into building a team of professionals with diverse expertise to manage and monitor activities related to seabed minerals. This will help ensure that all aspects of the activities are managed appropriately and sustainably.
