PO box inzoz, Wellington 6143 Freephone: anon 1.99 no 1970701052 Thank you for your email afSJune requesting the following under the Officlai Information Act 1982 (the Act): all advice and communications on the drafting of [clause 10] ojrhe Climate Change Response (Zen: Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Ministry for the Environment has identitied parts of fourteen documents in scope of your request, as listed in the attached table. Some intormation within these documents has been withheld under the following sections ot the Act: to maintain legal nroiesslonal privilege In terms of section 9(1) of the Act, I am satisfied that, in the circumstances, the withholding of this information Is not outweighed by other considerations that render it desirable to make the information avallabie In the public Interest. Relevant information Is released by excerpts in accordance with section 16 of the Act. Some out of scope information has been removed from the documents being released to you, Two otthe documents in scope ofyourrequest are publicly available, and the request torthis Information is reiused under section laid) of the Act. Vou can find links to where this information is publicly available in the attached table. The climate Change Response (Zero carbon) Amendment Bill is currently beiore Parliament, and the Environment committee has called tor submissions train the public, Vou can tind out more about how to make a submission on the Parliament website: Vou have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the ombudsman of my decision to withhold information relating to this request, In accordance with section 28(310fthe Act. The relevant details can be found on their website at: Please note that due to the public interest In our work the Ministry forthe Environment publishes responses to requests for official Information on our website on our OIA resgunses page shortly after the response has been sent. have any queries about this, please ieel free to contact our Exacutlve Relations team. Vours sincerely Whirl) Lewis Stevens-Rumba Acting Director, Climate Change List of documents Document no. Document date Content Decisions OIA sections appHed 1 28 August 2018 Parts of an email Released in full chain with the subject line Changes/risks Commission section 2 18-24 September Parts of an email Released in full 2018 chain with the subject line His and Cabinet Paper [in- confidence] 3 30 October 2018 Parts of an email Released In full chain with the subject line Terms Of Reference Cabinet Paper 4 17 December 2018 Parts of Cabinet Refused 18(d). AVailable at: Climate Change Bill brie?n 5' search 5 3 May 2019 parts of Climate Refused 18(d). Available at: Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill we? 2019 0135 htm ?src= 6 23 August 2018 Comments on a Withheld draft Cabinet paper (LGL) 7 28 August 2018 Comments on a Withheld draft Cabinet paper (LGL) 8 26 September Comments on a Withheld 2018 draft Cabinet paper (LGL) 9 5 October 2018 Parts of an email Withheld chain between policy and legal teams 10 21 December 2018 Drafting Instructions to the Parliamentary Counsel Office Withheld 11 14 January 2019 Comments on a draft of the bill Withheld 12 22 January 2019 Further drafting Instructions to the Parliamentary Counsel Office Withheld 9(2ilh) 13 5 March 2019 Parts of an email chain between policy and legal teams Withheld 9(2)(hl 14 5 April 2019 Parts of an email chain between andthe Parliamentary Counsel Office Withheld 9(2llhl Released under the Official Information Act 1982 Reference: Document No: 1 Excerpts from email chain with the subject line Changes/risks Commission section From: Samantha Hill Sent Date: 28/08/2018 17:37 To: Bridget Fraser Received Date: 28/08/2018 17:37 CC: Sue-Ellen Fenelon BCC: Subject: Changes/risks Commission section Hi Bridget, You asked at stand-up for a list of recent changes and risks to keep in mind when reading through the Cab paper/RIS. Here are some I'm aware of for the Commission. Thanks, Sam [out ofscope] Risks/more thought needed: [out ofscope] - Legal barriers to information?sharing have covered what I?m aware of (re: Stats Act and CCRA 5599/149) but haven?t had a chance to scan for other barriers that might exist [out ofscope] - Clarity needed on consequential amendments to CCRA Samantha Hill Policy Analyst, Climate Change Policy Ministry for the Environment Manatu M6 Te Taiao 23 Kate Sheppard Place, Thorndon, Wellington 6143 Email: Website: Phone: 022 493 0577 Page 1 of 1 Released under the Official Information Act 1982 Reference: Document No: 2 Excerpts from email chain with the subject line RIS and Cabinet Paper [in-confidence] From: Samantha Hill Sent Date: 24/09/2018 17:08 To: Charlotte Berg Received Date: 24/09/2018 17:08 CC: BCC: Subject: RE: RIS and Cabinet Paper [in-confidence] Thanks for double-checking this! I think you?re right that the 5149 approach might not work, and it would be better to have a specific exemption under section 99(2)(b) to allow the sharing of information for the purposes of the Commission?s functions. That would deal with 5256 (which we think is what the EPA reference was to) as well. We can discuss with Bronwyn and with legal tomorrow afternoon. From: Samantha Hill Sent: Monday, 24 September 2018 3:17 PM To: Charlotte Berg Subject: RE: RIS and Cabinet Paper [in-confidence] Hi Charlotte, We included recs on 599, though not 5250. Our approach to dealing with the confidentiality provisions of 599 was to enable the Commission to request information under $149 for the purposes of carrying out its functions, and have the 599 obligations of confidentiality apply to the Commission in respect ofthat information. This advice is in the recs but not in the text of the cab paper [rec 106 refers]. i think that the EPA concern with 599 might be broader, ie, a preference to amend 599 to provide for appropriate information-sharing between agencies more generally. I agree that this would make sense (and then the 5149 amendment wouldn?t be needed for the Commission), but wasn?t sure that it was within the scope of this bill to make that change. Do we have a View about 599 as it currently stands? My understanding of 5250 is that it specifically relates to the obligation to publish certain information. it is not required to publish information related to levies if that would disclose certain information about an identifiable person. From my reading, this doesn?t limit the ability ofthe EPA to share that information under appropriate agreements, but it would be good to have a legal opinion on that. Of course, if we propose to amend the confidentiality provisions in the CCRA beyond what is needed for the Commission specifically, then we could look at whether it would be appropriate to include inter?agency sharing provisions under 5250 as part ofthat. Short answer: I think that what is proposed can make 599 work for the Commission, but it won?t fix Page 1 of 3 any related information-sharing issues. It would be good to talk with Bronwyn about rec 106 specifically, and to test the broader question with our legal team. Sam From: Charlotte Berg Sent: Monday, 24 September 2018 1:52 PM To: Samantha Hill Cc: Samantha Hill Subject: RE: Terms Of Reference Cabinet Paper Hi Helen [out ofscope] Sam can you respond to the direct question in Helen?s second bullet points, please. Many thanks Sue-Ellen From: Helen Murdoch