Abstract

Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, response to the spill continues and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) process under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) is underway. Under OPA, natural resource damage must be repaired by the responsible party(s). The Deepwater Horizon NRDA process is managed by the Trustee Council with representation from the five Gulf States: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and two federal Departments: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Interior. NRDA is a legal process that determines type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for harm to natural resources and loss of human uses of those natural resources. NRDA addresses injuries that occurred as a result of the spill, response activities, and lingering effects.

The NRDA process is a three phase process. The first phase is pre-assessment of injury. Numerous Technical Working Groups (called TWGs) were created to evaluate ecological (including fisheries and wildlife) and human use injuries in an effort that is on-going. The second phase includes injury assessment as part of restoration planning. The final phase is implementing restoration plans.

In April 2011, a Framework Agreement was signed by Trustees and BP providing $1 billion for early restoration. One-hundred million dollars was allocated to each of the trustees, with the remaining $300 million to be used jointly. This early restoration agreement is unprecedented in the history of NRDA. The first set of eight proposed projects were described in a Draft Early Restoration Plan, received public comment, and are now being finalized for implementation. Additional projects are under consideration and will go through a similar process until the $1 billion has been allocated. Input by aquatic animal medicine experts during this restoration process is especially important to ensure that proposed restoration of damages to wildlife and their habitats is appropriate and will address injuries caused by the spill.

More information on NRDA can be found: www.restorethegulf.gov. Details about the number of wildlife species recovered during the spill: www.restorethegulf.gov/sites/default/files/Consolidated%20Wildlife%20Table%2010022010_0.pdf.

A second major effort, called the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force, was commissioned by President Obama and charged with developing a Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Restoration Strategy to address damages and degradation of the Gulf sustained over the past several decades. The Task Force is represented by all five Gulf States, and numerous federal agencies led by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. The Strategy was released in December 2011 and contains four goals: restore and conserve habitat, restore water quality, replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources, and enhance community resilience. Federal legislation called "the RESTORE Act" was introduced by Gulf coast legislators to direct some of the Deepwater Horizon fines levied under the Clean Water Act to the Gulf to implement the Strategy. As of the time this abstract was written, the Senate had passed the RESTORE Act but the House had not yet acted on it. An implementation plan for the Strategy is scheduled to be completed by summer 2012.