Bay of Plenty Regional Council is reviewing its tier two oil spill plan for the first time since the container ship Rena ran aground off the Tauranga coast, spilling hundreds of tonnes of fuel oil.
The disaster in October 2011 was a tier three response and dealt with by Maritime New Zealand, whereas a smaller tier two event is looked after by the regional council.
The council's on scene commander, Gregory Meikle, says the Rena incident identified new sensitive sites for its tier two oil spill plan.
He says it has been identified nationally there could be better detail in some regional council plans.
Mr Meikle says the Rena incident also showed the council needed to improve the way it notifies and engages the community when it comes to an oil spill.
