"I am grateful for having participated in the important environmental
policy dialogue, and for having made lifelong friendships with countless
lovely New Zealanders."
- Julie Frieder
Julie Frieder
Julie Frieder an Environmental Protection Specialist from
the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., was based at the
Ministry for the Environment, studying the theory and practice of the
Resource Management Act in New Zealand.
During my fellowship experience, I was based at the Ministry for the
Environment in Wellington, and spent time among the Trance and Auckland
regional councils and the Tasman District, a unitary authority, studying
the theory and practice of New Zealand's Resource Management Act
(RMA) and developing recommendations to improve RMA's implementation.
I met more than 100 individuals from local, regional and national governments,
business, environmental and farm communities, Maori and other interested
citizens, and gained greater awareness of the challenges of RMA implementation
from the perspective of implementing agencies. I was able to contribute
to the process in New Zealand by presenting my project findings.
Each of the 84 regional councils and territorial local authorities received
copies of the final report and two New Zealand journals published articles.
I shared observations with government officials and organizations involved
in this effort, including Parliament, the Ministry for the Environment,
private planning organizations and the academic and professional legal
community; and with the public on National Radio's "Kim Hill
Show."
I discovered that many tenets of New Zealand's framework are applicable
in the United States. Of particular interest to EPA are:
decentralized implementation,
watershed-delineated regional councils,
integrated rather than compartmentalized environ-mental management,
and
effects-based decision making.
In New Zealand I formulated new ideas about engineering and managing
change, which is a key challenge for both the United States and New Zealand.
The Ian Axford Fellowship was a wonderful opportunity. I am grateful for
having participated in the important environmental policy dialogue, and
for having made lifelong friendships with countless lovely New Zealanders.
