The Gisborne District Council Regional Plan for Discharges to Land and Water, Waste Management and Hazardous Substances (Discharges Plan) is prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991. It was publicly notified in August 1997 and became legally effective from that date. The Discharges Plan became Part Operative, excluding Chapter 2.1 – Waste Minimisation, on 8 July 2006. The Discharges Plan is primarily concerned with the sustainable management of all discharges to land and water.
The Plan is divided in to the following Chapters: