Natural Resource Damage AssessmentsType A Procedures

This final rule amends the regulations for assessing natural resource damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Federal, State, and Indian tribe natural resource trustees may use these regulations to obtain compensation from potentially responsible parties for natural resource injuries resulting from hazardous substance releases. Trustees obtain a rebuttable presumption in litigation for damages, up to $100,000, calculated in accordance with this rule. The rule does not change the overall administrative process for conducting assessments but simply revises an existing ``type A'' procedure for assessing natural resource damages in coastal and marine environments and establishes a new type A procedure for the Great Lakes.