Damage assessment regulations under Oil Pollution Act of 1990

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:33561

Burlington, L; Holt, M ^[1]

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1. NOAA-DART, Washington, DC (United States)

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) makes parties discharging oil into the environment liable for not only for the cost of cleanup but also for the monetary compensation for injury to and loss of use of natural resources caused by such incidents. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is developing regulations to cover the full range of issues associated with natural resource damage assessments under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). The regulations are designed to lead to standardized, fair, cost-effective damage assessments that lead to the expeditious return of impacted public resources to prespill conditions. This paper will give an overview of natural resource damages provisions of OPA and of NOAA`s proposed natural resource damage assessment regulations. Issues include: a comparison of NOAA`s proposed regulations with current natural resource damage assessment regulations developed under CERCLA, focusing on the new legal and procedural aspects of natural resource damage assessments under OPA; cooperative natural resource damage assessment and restoration between various natural resource trustees and responsible parties; the range of assessment procedures available under OPA: and economic issues associated with natural resource damage assessment.

• OSTI ID: 33561
• Report Number(s): CONF-9410273--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
COMPLIANCE
ECONOMIC IMPACT
LEGAL ASPECTS
LIABILITIES
OIL SPILLS
PETROLEUM
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
US SUPERFUND