[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 1994)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1189-1190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-226]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 7, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 990

 

Natural Resource Damage Assessments

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: Section 1006(e)(1) requires the President, acting through the 
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, to promulgate 
regulations for the assessments of natural resource damages resulting 
from the discharge of oil. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) is proposing those regulations in a separate 
Notice in this issue of the Federal Register. NOAA also wishes to 
announce a series of six regional meetings to receive additional 
comments and permit more detailed discussion of issues presented in 
today's proposed rule. The meetings will be held during the months of 
January and February, 1994. The locations of the meetings are New 
Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA; 
and Seattle, WA. Those persons wishing further information should 
contact NOAA at the address below.

ADDRESSES: Written inquiries are to be submitted to: Damage Assessment 
Regulations Team (DART), c/o NOAA/DAC, 1305 East-West Highway, SSMC #4, 
10th Floor, Workstation #10218, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Burlington or Eli Reinharz, 
Office of General Counsel, DART, telephone (202) 606-8000, FAX (202) 
606-4900.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq., provides for the prevention of, liability for, 
removal of, and compensation for the discharge, or substantial threat 
of discharge, of oil into or upon the navigable waters of the United 
States, adjoining shorelines, or the Exclusive Economic Zone. Section 
1006(e) requires the President, acting through the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, to develop regulations establishing 
procedures for natural resource trustees to use in the assessment of 
damages for injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use of 
natural resources covered by OPA. Section 1006(b) provides for the 
designation of federal, state, Indian tribe and foreign natural 
resource trustees to determine resource injuries, assess natural 
resource damages (including the reasonable costs of assessing damages), 
present a claim, recover damages, and develop and implement a plan for 
the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, or acquisition of the 
equivalent of the injured natural resources under their trusteeship.
    NOAA has published eight Federal Register Notices, 55 FR 53478 
(December 28, 1990), 56 FR 8307 (February 28, 1991), 57 FR 8964 (March 
13, 1992), 57 FR 14524 (April 21, 1992), 57 FR 23067 (June 1, 1992), 57 
FR 44347 (September 25, 1992), 57 FR 56292 (November 27, 1992), and 58 
FR 4601 (January 15, 1993), requesting information and comments on 
approaches to developing damage assessment procedures. Prior to 
developing the proposed regulations published in this issue of the 
Federal Register NOAA conducted a public meeting on March 20, 1991, for 
additional public participation into the process and held four regional 
workshops during 1991 in Rockville, Maryland; Houston, Texas; San 
Francisco, California; and Chicago, Illinois, to learn of regional 
concerns in coastal and inland waters. One workshop held in Alexandria, 
Virginia, in November, 1991, provided a forum for early discussions of 
various economic issues likely to be raised during the damage 
assessment rulemaking process. In addition, on August 12, 1992, NOAA 
held a public hearing on the issue of whether constructed market 
methodologies, including Contingent Valuation (CV), can be used to 
calculate reliably passive use values for natural resources, and if so, 
under what circumstances and under what guidance. On January 15, 1993, 
at 58 FR 4601, NOAA published in full the report of the panel 
commissioned by NOAA to evaluate the reliability of CV in calculating 
passive use values for natural resources.
    The proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register summarizes the written comments received by the agency and 
issues raised during the public meetings and workshops, responds to 
those comments, and contains proposed regulatory language.
    In order to gather general information and specific comments on the 
proposed rule, NOAA will hold a series of six regional meetings in 
1994, similar to the series held during the development of the proposed 
rule during 1991. These meetings will be open to the public, however 
representatives of organizations that have a direct interest in the 
assessment process are encouraged to attend. Such interested 
organizations can include, but are not limited to: Federal response and 
trustee agencies; states; foreign trustees; Indian tribes; industries, 
or industry organizations; environmental organizations; natural 
scientists; and economists.
    The locations and schedules for these meetings are as follows:

New Orleans, LA, January 10-11
Chicago, IL, January 12-13
Atlanta, GA, January 24-25
Boston, MA, January 26-27
San Francisco, CA, February 7-8
Seattle, WA, February 9-10

    Due to the necessary time constraints of the meetings, it is 
suggested that attendees focus their remarks to the following broad 
issues: (1) Prespill planning; (2) preassessment phase; (3) assessment 
planning; (4) simplified assessment procedures; (5) site-specific, 
detailed assessment procedures; (6) quantification of injuries; (7) 
valuation of resources; (8) post-assessment actions; and (8) certain 
legal principles involved in the assessment process.

    Dated: December 30, 1993.
Katharine W. Kimball,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere.
[FR Doc. 94-226 Filed 1-4-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-P