The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is carrying out an interim review of the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soils to Protect Human Health (the NESCS). The purpose of the review is to improve our understanding of how the NESCS is working since it has been in place.

The NESCS was introduced in January 2012. It sets a standard at which land is considered safe for human health and provides national consistency for the assessment and management of soil which may be contaminated as a result of current or past uses.

For the first phase of the review we are gathering information which will help us understand how the NES is working in practice. As part of this information gathering phase, MfE is carrying out a survey of the private sector. The survey is a chance to let us know about your experiences with the NESCS, the survey can be found here:

National Environmental Standard for Contaminated Soil Survey


Survey closes at 5pm on Tuesday 30 September 2014.


If you would like to read more details about the scope and timing of the interim review, the NESCS or HAIL you can find more information here:


If you have any questions, please email nescs.review@mfe.govt.nz.