The Bay of Plenty Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan outlines how Regional Council responds to Tier 2 oil spill incidents in coastal waters, with help from key partners and people, to help minimise environmental and cultural harm.

An oil spill response is classified as a ‘Tier 2’ when the spill exceeds the clean-up capability of the person responsible for spilling the oil, or where the person responsible for spilling the oil cannot be identified.

If the event exceeds the council's ability to adequately respond to the spill, it becomes a Tier 3 and Maritime New Zealand becomes the lead agency.
This primarily operational plan is reviewed every three years to ensure it remains fit for purpose, and the updated plan needs to be approved by Maritime New Zealand.

As part of the current review, we have streamlined sections of the plan. However, we want to confirm with key stakeholders, iwi, and hapū representatives that the sensitive sites identified for their environmental, cultural, or economic significance are accurately recorded. This will help ensure their protection is prioritised in the event of a spill.

The key aim of New Zealand’s marine spill and pollution response is to minimise damage and to ensure that any affected areas recover as quickly as possible. In line with international practice, New Zealand has a three-tiered approach to manage marine oil spill preparation and response. These Tiers are provided for in the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and each tier can be escalated, depending on the scale of the event.

Tier 1 oil spills - the spiller is responsible

Tier 2 oil spills - Regional Council is the lead agency

Tier 3 oil spills - Maritime New Zealand is the lead agency

In Tauranga Harbour we proactively work with industry to develop detailed plans to protect the harbour should a spill occur (Tier 1). This includes providing best practice advice and auditing high risk and large-scale activities that potentially have a significant pollution risk for the harbour.  

All regional councils must have a regional (Tier 2) oil spill contingency plan and ensure it is regularly tested. Regional councils are also required to maintain a trained response team, including wildlife response specialists.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council responds when the spill exceeds the clean-up capability of the person responsible for spilling the oil, or where the person responsible for spilling the oil cannot be identified.

The primary objective of a Tier 2 contingency plan is to safely prevent further pollution from the marine oil spill.  The plan itself is largely operational in nature to enable any oil spill to be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

In the event of a Tier 3 response in the Bay of Plenty, this Plan will provide Maritime NZ with specific regional information to assist in responding effectively to the spill.

The current Bay of Plenty Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan (Tier 2 Plan) was made effective 12 July 2021 and is now due for review.

What’s changing?

The updated Plan is divided into 10 sections, and you can view these under ‘Documents’ on the right-hand side of this page.

The updated Plan is largely the same, however we have reviewed and streamlined the operational sections (for example the Equipment and Resources section). We are now seeking feedback on the Sensitive Areas section.

The maps contained within Annex 04 – Sensitive Areas were recently updated. Due to the number of maps and size of the file these maps have been separated out into smaller geographical areas to make them easier to navigate. You can access these smaller files in the ‘Have your say’ tab.

To review the Sensitive Areas and provide feedback on sites that are missing or maybe incorrect, select the ‘Have your say’ tab and choose the area of interest. There is also an option to provide general feedback.

You can provide feedback on this plan review in two ways:

• Click on the Sensitive Area you’d like to provide feedback on, or provide general feedback.
• If you would prefer to speak to someone or need help with your submission, fill out the Submission Support form below, and a member of our team will get in touch with you.