[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 189 (Wednesday, September 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52244-52245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26147]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Notice of 
Availability and Request for Comments on a Damage Assessment Scoping 
Document

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
United States Department of the Interior (DOI), and Department of 
Environmental Conservation, State of New York.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft Damage Assessment Scoping 
Document and of a 80-calendar day period for public comment on the 
plan.

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SUMMARY: Notice is given that the document entitled ``Draft Scope for 
the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan'' is available 
for public review and comment. The first step of the Hudson River 
Natural Resource Damage Assessment, issuance of the preassessment 
screen determination for the Hudson River, was completed in October 
1997. The ``Draft Scope for the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment Plan'' document represents the initiation of the second 
step, assessment planning, in the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment (NRDA) being conducted by the State and Federal natural 
resource trustees. The purpose of the assessment plan is to ensure that 
the Trustees perform the assessment of injury to natural resources 
along the Hudson River in a planned and systematic manner, pursuant to 
43 CFR Part 11 of the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), NRDA Regulations. Public 
review of this scoping document, as announced by this notice, is 
consistent with 43 CFR 11.32 (c).

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing on or before December 19, 
1998.

ADDRESSES: Written requests for copies and written comments for the 
Draft Scope of the Hudson River NRDA Plan should be sent to Steven Jay 
Sanford at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 
Natural Resources Damages Unit, Room 403, 50 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 
12233-1090; Lisa DiPinto at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration Damage Assessment Center, 1305 East-West Highway, SSMC 4 
Rm 10218, Silver Spring, MD 20910; or Anne Secord at Department of the 
Interior, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 3817 Luker Rd, Cortland, NY 
13045.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Jay Sanford, 518-457-7987 (FAX: 
518-485-8424; email: [email protected]; Lisa DiPinto, 301-
713-3038 ext. 187 (FAX: 301-713-4387; email: [email protected] or 
Ann Secord, 607-753-9334 (FAX: 607-753-9699; email: 
[email protected]) .

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 107(f) of the Federal 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA), as amended (42 USC 9601 et seq.), and other applicable 
Federal and state laws, Federal and state officials may act on behalf 
of the public as Trustees for natural resources to pursue claims for 
natural resource damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of 
natural resources resulting from the release of hazardous substances to 
the environment. Claims may be pursued against parties responsible for 
releasing hazardous substances to the environment. Under CERCLA, sums 
recovered by trustees as damages shall be used only to restore, 
rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of such natural 
resources.
    In October 1997, the United States Department of the Interior 
(DOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and 
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), 
referred to as the Trustees, issued a preassessment screen 
determination for the Hudson River, in accordance with the Federal 
Regulations for Natural Resource Damages Assessments (43 CFR Part 11 
(b)). The preassessment screen documents the Trustees' determination 
that conditions in the River warrant a natural resource damage 
assessment (NRDA). The preassessment screen documents releases of 
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) along approximately 200 miles of the 
Hudson River from identified sources of contamination between Hudson 
Falls and the Thompson Island Dam. The effects of these releases on 
natural resources, for which Federal and state agencies may assert 
trusteeship under section 107(f) of CERCLA, serves as a basis for 
making a claim against the potentially responsible parties identified 
with the documented PCB releases. The Trustees acknowledge that there 
are other sources of contamination to the river, including inactive 
hazardous waste disposal sites, paper mills, combined sewer overflows, 
sewage effluent, and tributaries entering the river. These sources may 
also be addressed in the NRDA.
    Under the CERCLA regulations (subpart c), the next step in the NRDA 
process is the preparation of an assessment plan. This scoping document 
is a preliminary outline of the potential contents of an NRD Assessment 
plan for the Hudson River. The assessment plan will be designed to 
address injuries to a variety of natural resources and natural resource 
services associated with the release of hazardous substances in the 
Hudson River environment.


[[Page 52245]]


    Dated: September 24, 1998.
Nancy Foster,
Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management.
[FR Doc. 98-26147 Filed 9-29-98; 8:45 am]
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