Injury assessment for natural resources under Oil Pollution Act of 1990

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

OSTI ID:33562

Reinharz, E ^[1]; McDonald, L ^[2]; Bergman, H; Meyer, J ^[3]; Luthi, R B

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1. NOAA-DART, Washington, DC (United States)
2. WEST, Inc., Cheyenne, WY (United States)
3. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)

Under the Superfund Act of 1980 (CERCLA), the US Department of the Interior promulgated two procedures to assess injury resulting from hazardous substances or oil: a simplified ``Type A`` model and full-blown ``Type B`` assessment. Both procedures included natural resource injury determination and quantification phases, with methods specified for each. The assessment alternatives proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), include four procedures for assessing injury from the discharge, or threat of discharge, of oil: two simplified procedures (compensation formulas and Type A models) and two more complicated procedures (Expedited Damage Assessment (EDA) and Comprehensive Damage Assessment (CDA)). The CDA is a twin to Interior`s Type B procedure, while the EDA is an abbreviated CDA or augmented Type A procedure. This paper will review the assessment frameworks for NOAA`s proposed EDA and CDA procedures, which follow the approach described in EPA`s Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment. Issues to be discussed include the: definition of injury; acceptance criteria for determining injury; procedures for establishing exposure, and determining and quantifying injury; departures from Interior`s CERCLA approach to injury assessment; and inherent implications for future injury and damage assessments.

• OSTI ID: 33562
• Report Number(s): CONF-9410273--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
COMPLIANCE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
LEGAL ASPECTS
PETROLEUM
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
US SUPERFUND