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Draft:Natural Resource Damage Assessment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Sources need to be independent (not the gov) also the prose is not clear about which countries this applies to Czarking0 (talk) 15:49, 24 March 2025 (UTC)



General description

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Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) is a method used in the United States to calculate monetary damages after natural resources have been injured by a release of hazardous substances[1][2][3]. The method includes injury assessment and valuation[4][5] and results in restoration to reverse harm caused by releases of hazardous substances[2][6][7]. In the United States, NRDA is defined in federal and state regulations. NRDA is also known as Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) because the goal is restoration.

NRDA in United States federal regulations

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United States federal regulations (such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), and others) require polluters to cleanup unauthorized releases of hazardous substances and oil. Additionally, these laws allow natural resource trustees to perform NRDA[8][2]. While methods for performing NRDA can vary,[9][4][10][6][5][11][12] CERCLA and OPA provide steps. Following procedures laid out in these regulations is not mandatory, although their use triggers a rebuttable presumption[2][13].

In the United States, natural resource trustees are designated by federal, state, and tribal governments[14][15][8]. Federal trustees are designated by the President of the United States, and often include NOAA (through the Office of Response and Restoration) or USFWS. State trustees are appointed by their state's governors[15] and tribal trustees are appointed by their governing bodies[14]. Every state designated one or more trustee organizations,[16] however not all states have active NRDA programs that are prepared to respond after an accident[17].

CERCLA requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to notify trustees when injury to natural resources may have occurred, and to invite trustees to participate in the NRDA[3].

Injury to natural resources can result from exposure to hazardous substances, the cleanup itself (driving machinery through habitat) or actions in response to a threat of a discharge[7]. Natural resource valuation is performed during NRDA. Trustees must quantify the severity of injuries, determine how much the responsible party owes the public (often defined in monetary damages),[18] and then develop restoration plans to restore ecosystem services[4][6]. The US Department of the Interior maintains a library of NRDA cases for public access, for cases in which the US DOI is involved[19][20]. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains a library of NRDA cases for public access for cases in which US NOAA is involved[21][22].

Responsible parties must reimburse trustees for the costs of performing the NRDA and the subsequent restoration[2]. In the United States, reimbursement covers: 1) the reasonable cost of assessing monetary damages, 2) the cost of restoration until recovery of the natural resources to baseline (or acquiring the equivalent of the injured natural resources), including past lost-use of ecosystem services[4][2][19].

NRDA regulations elsewhere

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Individual states in the United States may either use the process defined in CERCLA and OPA or use their own state regulations[23][15], although not every state has adopted their own NRDA regulations[15].

Other countries have similar procedures to determine injuries due to releases of hazardous substances and to determine the level of restoration that would offset those injuries[13][24]. Additionally, NRDA regulations from the United States have been used for assessment of natural resource injury abroad[25]. The European Union uses authorities in the Environmental Liability Directive 2004 to define damages liability and allows trustees of natural resources to act on behalf of the public to perform injury assessments[26]. Processes similar to NRDA are also used in Canada through the authorities provided in the Federal Environmental Enforcement Act [13].

Additional resources

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NRDA practitioners draw from many sources, from assessing injury to invertebrates,[27] to modeling for oil spills,[28] to considerations regarding climate change[29].

References

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  1. ↑ Shaw, W.D. (1997). "Natural resource damage assessment - economics and settlements". International Journal of Environmental Studies. 51 (4): 285–299. Bibcode:1997IJEnS..51..285S. doi:10.1080/00207239708711087 – via Taylor and Francis online.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brighton, W.D., Glaser, D.A. and King, R.E. (2024). "Natural Resource Damages under CERCLA and OPA". Environmental Law Reporter. 54: 10569 – via HeinOnline.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 Lee, Valerie Ann; Bridgen, P.J. (2002). The Natural Resource Damage Assessment Deskbook: A Legal and Technical Analysis. Washington DC: Environmental Law Institute.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jones, C.A. (2000). "Economic valuation of resource injuries in natural resource liability suits". Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 126 (6): 358–365. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2000)126:6(358).
  5. 1 2 Freeman, A.M. (2013). Nonuse values in natural resource damage assessment, in Valuing natural assets (First ed.). RFF Press. pp. 264–303. ISBN 9781315060620.
  6. 1 2 3 Barnthouse, L.W.; Stahl, R.G. (2017). "Assessing and managing natural resource damages: continuing challenges and opportunities". Environmental Management. 59 (5): 709–717. Bibcode:2017EnMan..59..709B. doi:10.1007/s00267-017-0840-5. PMID 28260121.
  7. 1 2 Desvousges, W.H.; Lutz, J.C. (2000). "Compensatory Restoration: Economic Principles and Practice". Arizona Law Review. 42: 411.
  8. 1 2 Dunford, Richard; Gmur, Stephan; Lynes, Melissa; Challenger, Greg; Dunford, Michael (2019). "Natural Resource Damages from Oil Spills in the United States". Environmental Claims Journal. 31 (2): 176–190. Bibcode:2019EnvCJ..31b.176D. doi:10.1080/10406026.2019.1567000.
  9. ↑ Baker, M.; Domanski, A.; Hollweg, T.; Murray, J.; Lane, D.; Skrabis, K.; Taylor, R.; Moore, T.; DiPinto, L. (2020). "Restoration scaling approaches to addressing ecological injury: the habitat-based resource equivalency method" (PDF). Environmental Management. 65 (2): 161–177. Bibcode:2020EnMan..65..161B. doi:10.1007/s00267-019-01245-9. PMC 7007898. PMID 31915910.
  10. ↑ Helm, R.C; Ford, R.G.; Carter, H.R. (May 2008). "Oil Spills, Seabirds, and NRDA: Differences Between US West, East, and Gulf Coasts". International Oil Spill Conference, American Petroleum Institute. 2008: 1131–1139.
  11. ↑ Rohr, J.R.; Johnson, P.; Hickey, C.W.; Helm, R.C.; Fritz, A.; Brasfield, S. (2013). "Implications of global climate change for natural resource damage assessment, restoration, and rehabilitation". Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 32 (1): 93–101. Bibcode:2013EnvTC..32...93R. doi:10.1002/etc.2036. PMC 3601426. PMID 23097077.
  12. ↑ Horsch, E.; Phaneuf, D.; Giguere, C.; Murray, J.; Duff, C.; Kroninger, C. (2023). "Discounting in natural resource damage assessment". Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis. 14 (1): 141–161. doi:10.1017/bca.2022.24.
  13. 1 2 3 Olsynski, Martin ZP (2012). "Environmental damages after the Federal Environmental Enforcement Act: Bringing ecosystem services to Canadian environmental law". Osgoode Hall Law Journal. 50 (1): 129–176. doi:10.60082/2817-5069.1034 – via DigitalCommons.
  14. 1 2 Kanner, Allan (2004). "Tribal Sovereignty and Natural Resource Damages". Public Land & Resources Law Review. 25: 93.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Ando, A.W.; Khanna, M. (2004). "Natural resource damage assessment methods: lessons in simplicity from state trustees". Contemporary Economic Policy. 22 (4): 504–519. doi:10.1093/cep/byh037.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "State Trustees". Documents and information pertaining to State natural resource trustees. US Department of the Interior. July 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  17. ↑ Ando, A, and W Polasub. 2009. The political economy of state-level adoption of natural resource damage assessment. Journal of Regulatory Economics, 35:312-330.
  18. ↑ Kanner, A. and Nagy, T. (2005). "Measuring Loss of Use Damages in Natural Resource Damage Actions". Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. 30: 417.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. 1 2 Bradshaw, Karen (2016). "Settling for Natural Resource Damages" (PDF). Harvard Environmental Law Review. 40: 211.
  20. ↑ "ORDA Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration". U.S. Department of the Interior. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  21. ↑ "Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program". DARRP | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | US Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  22. ↑ Dvarskas, Anthony (2008). "Minding the 3 R's: Response, Remediation and Restoration". Wracklines.
  23. ↑ Ando, A, and W Polasub (2009). "The political economy of state-level adoption of natural resource damage assessment". Journal of Regulatory Economics. 35: 312-330. doi:10.1007/s11149-008-9083-y.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ Brans, E.H. (2005). "Liability for damage to public natural resources under the 2004 EC Environmental Liability Directive: standing and assessment of damages". Environmental Law Review. 7 (2): 90–109. Bibcode:2005EnvLR...7...90B. doi:10.1177/146145290500700202.
  25. ↑ Wenning, R.J.; Tomasi, T.D. (2023). "Using US Natural Resource Damage Assessment to understand the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine". Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. 19 (2): 366–375. Bibcode:2023IEAM...19..366W. doi:10.1002/ieam.4716. PMID 36444733.
  26. ↑ Defrancesco, E., Gatto, P. and Rosato, P. (2014). "A 'component-based'approach to discounting for natural resource damage assessment". Ecological Economics. 99: 1-9. Bibcode:2014EcoEc..99....1D. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.12.017.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ Soucek, D.J., Farag, A.M., Besser, J.M. and Steevens, J.A. (2023). Guide for benthic invertebrate studies in support of Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration. US Geological Survey.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ↑ French-McCay, D. (2011). Oil spill modeling for ecological risk and natural resource damage assessment. In International Oil Spill Conference. p. 415.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  29. ↑ Rohr, J.R., Johnson, P., Hickey, C.W., Helm, R.C., Fritz, A. and Brasfield, S. (2013). "Implications of global climate change for natural resource damage assessment, restoration, and rehabilitation". Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 32 (1): 93–101. Bibcode:2013EnvTC..32...93R. doi:10.1002/etc.2036. PMC 3601426. PMID 23097077 – via Oxford Academic.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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