OCS-RELATED OIL SPILL IMPACTS ON NATURAL RESOURCES: AN ECONOMIC RISK ANALYSIS1

1989 ◽  
Vol 1989 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-287
Author(s):  
James J. Opaluch ◽  
Thomas A. Grigalunas
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup

ABSTRACT Risk analyses of oil spills are important in the development of outer continental shelf (OCS) leasing policy as well as other marine policies relating to oil. This paper explores the use of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Model for Coastal and Marine Resources (NRDAM/CME) to provide a risk analysis of oil spills related to OCS oil development. For the categories of natural resources included in NRDAM/CME, the expected value of damages from large oil spills appears quite small relative to the value of oil developed. Expected damages range from $300,000 to $19.7 million per billion barrels of oil developed. Ongoing research by the authors will refine these estimates by including additional categories of damages, which will increase the damage estimates, and oil spill cleanup and the effect of OCS production on reducing imports, which will reduce the estimated net costs of OCS development.

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.

COMPUTER MODELS FOR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: ESTIMATES OF USE AND RESULTS1

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-344
Author(s):  
James F. Bennett ◽  
Bruce E. Peacock ◽  
Timothy R. Goodspeed
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Hazardous Substance ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Damage Assessment Model

ABSTRACT Through the process of natural resource damage assessment (NRDA), certain public agencies have the authority to recover monetary damages from parties responsible for injury to natural resources from a discharge of oil or a release of a hazardous substance. Computer simulation models have been developed as simplified procedures for these natural resource trustees to use in calculating damages without undertaking extensive field studies. The revised Natural Resource Damage Assessment Model for Coastal and Marine Environments (NRDAM/CME) and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Model for the Great Lakes Environments (NRDAM/GLE) are being developed to serve an expanding user community of public natural resource trustees. These tools may enable natural resource managers to expedite settlements and execute environmental restoration. To estimate the potential use of the NRDA models for oil spills, the authors have developed a set of candidate spill occurrences based on the historical record. Representing an estimated 337 applicable spill events in the subject year, 121 model runs generated damage figures ranging from zero to more than half a million dollars.

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 A PROPOSED RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR WASHINGTON STATE1

1989 ◽  
Vol 1989 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Geselbracht ◽  
Jonathan Rubin ◽  
Thomas M. Leschine
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Assessment Procedures

ABSTRACT A state legislature sponsored study of Washington's oil spill damage assessment programs has revealed a number of problems. Studies designed to assess damages following major marine oil spills have not always been cost-effective and appropriate, state oil spill response activities have been difficult to fund, agencies have had difficulties spending damage recoveries in accordance with state law, and laws and regulations provide inadequate guidance on how to monetize resource damages identified. In addition, state agencies lack an alternative to field-based studies for compensation recovery in situations where damages are for all intents and purposes unquantifiable. An examination of CERCLA-based natural resource damage assessment procedures, the civil penalties in lieu of damages system employed by the State of Alaska, and other damage assessment practices had led to a recommendation for substantial changes in state marine resource damage assessment procedures. The recommended approach emphasizes the use of CERCLA-like preassessment screening to guide decisions about whether to quantify damages through field studies or to charge civil penalties in lieu of damages, as done in Alaska. In addition, emphasis is placed on direct negotiations with the responsible party to identify restoration/enhancement projects as alternatives to paying damages, and on developing capabilities to manage recovered damages and assessment costs through a new revolving fund.

THE NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTS (NRDAM/CME)1

1987 ◽  
Vol 1987 (1) ◽  
pp. 541-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Grigalunas ◽  
James J. Opaluch ◽  
Deborah French ◽  
Mark Reed
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Marine Environments ◽  
Environmental Response ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Natural Resource Damage Assessment ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Damage Assessment Model

ABSTRACT This paper describes the Natural Resouce Damage Assessment Model for Coastal and Marine Environments (NRDAM/CME) developed by the authors for the U.S. Department of the Interior. The NRDAM/CME is to be used for type A, simplified assessments of damages to natural resources in coastal and marine environments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. Given limited information supplied by an authorized official after a discharge or release covered by the act, the model simulates the physical fates, biological effects, and economic damages resulting from the incident.

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.

scholarly journals Linkages between Oil Spill Removal Activities and Natural Resource Damages

1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 377-383
Author(s):  
Richard W. Dunford ◽  
Sara P. Hudson ◽  
William H. Desvousges
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
The Cost

ABSTRACT The new Oil Pollution Act of 1990 defines natural resource damages from oil spills as the sum of the cost to restore foregone natural resource services, the diminution of value of natural resource services prior to restoration, and damage assessment costs. Natural resource damages are usually determined once removal activities (containment, protection, and cleanup) are completed. Nevertheless, removal activities affect the magnitude of all three natural resource damage components. Consequently, to minimize the total cost of oil spills, decisions on removal activities should consider the linkages between removal activities and natural resource damages. Successful containment results in minimal natural resource damages, because oil generally does far less damage to natural resources in open water than on shore. If oil cannot be contained, the potential natural resource damages from oil coming ashore in certain areas can help determine priorities for protection activities. In particular, oil may harm natural resource services much more in some areas than in others. Furthermore, some natural resource services are more costly to restore and assess than others. Finally, some cleanup activities do more harm than good to natural resource services. If the effects of cleanup activities on natural resource damages are ignored, “excessive” cleanup activities are likely.

UNNECESSARILY NEGLECTED IN PLANNING: ILLUSTRATION OF A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO IDENTIFY HUMAN DIMENSION IMPACTS OF MARINE OIL SPILLS

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250012 ◽  
Author(s):  
FABIENNE LORD ◽  
SETH TULER ◽  
THOMAS WEBLER ◽  
KIRSTIN DOW
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Contingency Planning ◽  
Human Dimension ◽  
Contingency Plans ◽  
Negative Impacts

Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving greater attention to human dimension impacts resulting from events and response. While oil spill contingency planners recognize the importance of human dimension impacts, little systematic attention is given to them in contingency plans. We introduce an approach to identifying human dimensions impacts using concepts from hazard and vulnerability assessment and apply it to the Bouchard-120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, MA. Our assessment covers the spill, emergency response, clean-up, damage assessment, and mid-term recovery. This approach, while still exploratory, did demonstrate that the spill produced a range of positive and negative impacts on people and institutions and that these were mediated by vulnerabilities. We suggest ways in which the framework may help spill managers to learn from events and improve contingency planning by anticipating risks to social systems and identifying strategies to reduce impacts.

“An Inevitable Consequence:” Changing Ideas of Prevention in the Wake of Catastrophic Events

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-438
Author(s):  
TERESA SABOL SPEZIO
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Visual Evidence ◽  
The Face ◽  
Policy Transformation ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup ◽  
Spilled Oil

AbstractIn the face of technology failures in preventing oil from reaching beaches and coasts after catastrophic oil spills in the 1960s and early 1970s, the oil industry and governmental officials needed to quickly reconsider their idea of prevention. Initially, prevention meant stopping spilled oil from coating beaches and coasts. Exploring the presentations at three oil-spill conferences in 1969, 1971 and 1973, this idea of prevention changed as the technological optimism of finding effective methods met the realities of oil-spill cleanup. By 1973, prevention meant stopping oil spills before they happened. This rapid policy transformation came about because the oil industry could not hide the visual evidence of the source of their technology failures. In this century, as policymakers confront invisible pollutants such as pesticides and greenhouse gases, considering ways to visually show the source of the pollution along with the effects could quicken policy decisions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document