The Environmental Plan establishes an environmental policy for state highways and outlines specific actions to improve NZTA's performance:

• mitigating traffic noise and vibration
• managing effects on air quality
• addressing impacts on water quality
• using resources efficiently
• protecting cultural and heritage features
• improving the visual appearance of highways
• protecting biodiversity.

The Environmental Plan enables us to integrate environmental and social considerations into all aspects of state highway planning, construction and maintenance.

In addition, NZTA operates within the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) framework. This means that as a developer of urban and rural transport projects we must employ a wide variety of techniques to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse environmental and social effects. NZTA's environmental management techniques compare favourably with international best practice, as is reflected by the international awards we have won for specific projects.