COMPARISON OF FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF A MAJOR OIL SPILL, ISLAND PARK, NEW YORK1

1987 ◽  
Vol 1987 (1) ◽  
pp. 533-540
Author(s):  
Gary L. Ott
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Computer Model ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Type A ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Chemical Spills ◽  
Federal Guidelines

ABSTRACT Federal guidelines that outline a process for natural resource damage assessment have recently been published. The guidelines provide two types of assessment procedures that are referred to as Type A assessments and Type B assessments. The Type A procedures are for simplified assessments and use a computer model to measure in monetary terms compensation for injury to marine and coastal natural resources through the use of average values and approximations. The proposed Type A computer model was used to analyze a major oil spill that occurred in Island Park, New York, where the federal on-scene coordinator had attempted to evaluate the magnitude and severity of the spill. In this one instance, both field observations and the proposed Type A computer model characterized this major oil spill as having a limited impact on the environment. Oil and chemical spills are generally characterized only by the size of the release. Conceivably, the proposed Type A model could be used as a tool for characterizing a spill by its potential to injure natural resources. The ability to focus on the environmental impacts of a spill may help analyze response actions that reduce natural resource damages.

scholarly journals THE SECOND GENERATION OF NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS: LESSONS LEARNED?1

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 727-731
Author(s):  
Randall B. Luthi ◽  
Linda B. Burlington ◽  
Eli Reinharz ◽  
Sharon K. Shutler
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
General Counsel ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment

ABSTRACT The Damage Assessment Regulations Team (DART), under the Office of General Counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has centered its efforts on developing natural resource damage assessment regulations for oil pollution in navigable waters. These procedures will likely lower the costs associated with damage assessments, encourage joint cooperative assessments and simplify most assessments. The DART team of NOAA is developing new regulations for the assessment of damages due to injuries related to oil spills under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. These regulations will involve coordination, restoration, and economic valuation. Various methods are currently being developed to assess damages for injuries to natural resources. The proposed means include: compensation tables for spills under 50,000 gallons, Type A model, expedited damage assessment (EDA) procedures, and comprehensive procedures. They are being developed to provide trustees with a choice for assessing natural resource damages for each oil spill.

Quantifying the Scale of Restoration Required to Compensate for the Impacts of the North Cape Oil Spill on Fish and Invertebrates

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 661-665
Author(s):  
Deborah P. French McCay ◽  
Carol-Ann Manen ◽  
Mark Gibson ◽  
John Catena
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
The North ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Baseline Conditions ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) seeks to make the environment and public whole for injury to or loss of natural resources and services as a result of a discharge of oil. This means that restoration projects implemented as part of a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) must be of a sufficient scale to produce resources and services of the same type and quality and of comparable value to those that were lost. Services, for an NRDA, include both the ecological and human uses of the resources. Also, the loss must be quantified from the time of impact until the resource returns to baseline conditions—the level in the absence of the impact. This paper details a series of methods that may be used for scaling NRDA restoration projects and describes how these methods were used in the restoring the injuries incurred as a result of the North Cape oil spill.

THE INTRUSION OF CRIMINAL LAW ON THE NRDA PROCESS

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (2) ◽  
pp. 1143-1146
Author(s):  
Don A. Kane ◽  
Francis J. Gonynor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Protective Orders ◽  
The Common ◽  
Responsible Party

ABSTRACT A primary goal of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) is to make the environment and public whole for injuries to natural resources that result from the discharge of oil. OPA 90 authorizes state and federal natural resource agencies to serve as trustees for natural resources and provides them with the responsibility, through a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) process, to ensure that injured natural resources are restored. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) promulgated damage assessment regulations, and in an attempt to correct deficiencies and meet OPA 90 mandates, developed a framework intended to promote expeditious restoration. To lessen the common litigious nature of the NRDA process, the regulations encourage active participation by a responsible party in a cooperative assessment of damages. Natural resource trustee agencies also have authority to enforce criminal aspects of other statutes for impacts resulting from an oil spill. However, when agencies initiate a criminal investigation under these statutes for an oil spill, the goals mandated in OPA 90 and set forth in the NOAA regulations can be substantially undermined. There are potential solutions that could, at least partially, resolve this dilemma for the responsible party to a point where participation in the NRDA process would not unduly prejudice its position in a criminal investigation. Such solutions might include written agreements as to communications and transactional use of immunity agreements, stay of proceedings, and protective orders, which singly, or in combination, could prove invaluable in preserving a progressive NRDA process, fully inclusive of the responsible party.

WHERE RESPONSE MEETS NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT (NRDA)

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 1153-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Lehto
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Liaison Officer ◽  
Incident Command System ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT During oil spill incidents, NRDA and response activities may co-occur. This paper discusses those occurrences, focusing on ephemeral data collection and emergency restoration. Current laws provide some guidance for how these activities may be coordinated. The Field Operations Guide (FOG) and the National Contingency Plan (NCP) state that it is the responsibility of the Incident Commander (IC) to notify natural resource trustees of the incident and to coordinate NRDA representative's activities through the Liaison Officer. The FOG and NCP also state that it is the responsibility of the trustees to conduct their NRDA preassessment activities without hindering the response. The overlap between NRDA and response may be further complicated because many trustees may work within the environmental unit or the wildlife recovery unit for the response and also have the responsibility to work on NRDA. They may work in the Incident Command System advising the IC on response issues while also trying to initiate a damage assessment. Data collection during a response is critical for managing the incident as well as performing a thorough damage assessment. Although the types of data collected to aid the response may be similar to those used in damage assessment, often the scale and level of detail may be quite different. Even with these differences, synergies in ephemeral data collection may exist. Emergency restoration activities do sometimes occur before the response has concluded. The Oil Pollution Act regulations state that emergency restoration may occur if the action is needed to avoid the loss of natural resources, or to prevent any continuing danger to natural resources. If the trustees determine that emergency restoration is needed, they are required to consult with the IC prior to taking any such action. As an example, this paper will discuss emergency restoration actions undertaken during the Whatcom creek, WA gasoline spill to reduce the impact to migrating salmon.

scholarly journals OIL SPILL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR THE VENEZUELAN OIL INDUSTRY

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 905-906
Author(s):  
Carlos Villoria ◽  
Rosa Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support System ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Support System ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Management Zones ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment

ABSTRACT In 1991, the Venezuelan oil industry, through INTEVEP, its research and development subsidiary, started a project to implement an oil spill decision support system (DEPET 4.0) for the Venezuelan national oil spill contingency plan. For this primary tool for taking spill response actions in operational drills and real emergencies, the industry developed a database of possible scenarios in predetermined sites and for natural resource damage assessment. The system covers the entire Venezuelan coastline, with each of five management zones serviced by a separate base map and data.

CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 948-949
Author(s):  
Mark B. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
The State ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Assessment Activities

ABSTRACT The Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), the Department of Fish and Game, is the lead state agency charged with oil spill prevention and response in the marine environment of the state of California. The OSPR was established pursuant to the California Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990. The legislation provides the OSPR Administrator with substantial authority to direct spill response, cleanup, and natural resource damage assessment activities.

FLORIDA'S POLLUTANT DISCHARGE NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT COMPENSATION SCHEDULE—A RATIONAL APPROACH TO THE RECOVERY OF NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGES1

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 717-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Plante ◽  
Ernest L. Barnett ◽  
Debra J. Preble ◽  
Lanette M. Price
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Liquidated Damages ◽  
Pollutant Discharge ◽  
Restoration Cost

ABSTRACT Quantifying natural resource damages resulting from pollutant discharges has historically been difficult. The Florida legislature recognized this and developed a simplified compensation schedule using liquidated damage principles. The application of such an approach to natural resource damage assessment greatly simplifies the determination of monetary damages to natural resources resulting from pollutant discharges. The foundations for developing the multipliers for the factors used in the compensation schedule are restoration cost and loss of use. After a number of natural resource damage recoveries have taken place, the compensation schedule should be reevaluated to determine if the liquidated damages test of reasonableness remains adequate.

NRDA CASE STUDY: THE ARTHUR KILL OIL SPILL1

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 711-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Desvousges ◽  
Richard W. Dunford ◽  
Kristy E. Mathews ◽  
H. Spencer Banzhaf
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment

ABSTRACT The natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) methods used to estimate the damages from the Arthur Kill oil spill employed a transfer methodology. The base-case estimate for use damages was $46,000 and for non-use damages was $525,000.

CONDUCTING A NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT (NRDA) FOR SEA TURTLE INJURY RESULTING FROM AN OIL SPILL NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, FL

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Jeansonne ◽  
Thomas Moore ◽  
David Bernhart ◽  
Melissa Snover
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Model Input ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Input Parameters

ABSTRACT Following a mystery oil spill near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in August 2000, natural resource trustee agencies (Trustees) conducted a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). During the NRDA, injury to several life stages of Loggerhead sea turtles (Carena caretta) and Green sea turtles (Chelonia my das) was quantified using a computer model, SIMAP (French-McCay, 2001), and the type and scale of restoration required was determined. Quantification of injury required Trustees to determine key model input parameters based on a variety of scientific data sources. The restoration scaling portion of this NRDA required Trustees to quantify the number of Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings it would take to replace a post-pelagic juvenile (age 17 to 20 years) and an adult female (42 to 50 years old). To accomplish this, Trustees developed a simple model based on recent life stage and population dynamics assumptions for the south Florida Loggerhead sub-population. Details of the sea turtle NRDA method and rationale for determining the required model input parameters are discussed.

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