Despite subsection (4), if an application for a marine consent for an activity to which this section applies is lodged with and accepted as complete by the Environmental Protection Authority no less than 9 months before the end of the term of the permit or privilege as it was on the day before this Act came into force, the activity may continue without a marine consent until the application is decided under section 62 and any appeals are determined.

Subsections (4) and (5) override section 20.

If an application for a marine consent for an activity to which this section applies was accepted as complete by the Environmental Protection Authority in 2015 before the date of commencement of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Act 2015 (whether or not decided under section 62 before that date), subsection (5) is deemed also to apply in that case.