Natural Resource Damage Assessments

Section 1006(e)(1) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires the President, acting through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, to promulgate regulations for the assessment of natural resource damages resulting from a discharge or substantial threat of a discharge of oil. This final rule is for the use of authorized federal, state, Indian tribe, and foreign officials, referred to as ``trustees.'' Natural resource damage assessments are not identical to response or remedial actions addressed by the larger statutory scheme of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Assessments are not intended to replace response actions, which have as their primary purpose the protection of human health, but to supplement them, by providing a process for restoring natural resources and services injured as a result of an incident involving oil.