Restoring natural resources under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990

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

OSTI ID:40134

Reinharz, E ^[1]; French, D P ^[2]

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1. NOAA-DART, Washington, DC (United States)
2. ASA, Inc., Narragansett, RI (United States)

The Oil Production 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 (damages) for injury to natural resources caused by such incidents. OPA calls for trustees to use recovered damages to compensate the public by restoring, rehabilitating, replacing, or acquiring the equivalent of the injured natural resources under their trusteeship. Restoration encompasses activities designed to accelerate recovery to baseline conditions by directly addressing natural resource injuries caused by the incident (``direct`` restoration), and compensate the public and ecosystem for those injured resources pending recovery (``compensatory`` restoration). Decisions to restore injured resources need to be balanced against natural recovery. To ensure successful recovery, the trustees should consider the strength of the information collected on injury, and its relevance to restoration planning and implementation. This paper discusses NOAA`s proposed regulatory guidance issued in January 1 994 (59 Fed Reg. 1062). Issues include: defining restoration; the restoration planning process; critical factors considered in restoration; steps considered in restoration planning; available restoration alternatives; and evaluating success in the recovery of natural resources.

• OSTI ID: 40134
• Report Number(s): CONF-9410273--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
LEGISLATION
LIABILITIES
OIL SPILLS
PETROLEUM
REMEDIAL ACTION