About the DARRP
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The Greenhill oil
rig caught fire and leaked oil into Timbalier Bay, Louisiana. Booms
were placed around the leak to contain the oil. |
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Overview of the program:
NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program was established in 1990 to fulfill natural resource responsibilities assigned in the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Superfund Act, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA). This unique, interdisciplinary approach to natural resource damage assessment and restoration was shaped by over a decade of assessing injuries to coastal and marine resources that reached a peak following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in March 1989.
DARRP responds to natural disasters such as Superfund sites, oil spills, and ship hulls crushing coral reefs. Through this program, such injuries are repaired when possible, and the lost natural resources are replaced through restoration projects which focus on revitalizing and improving coastal and marine habitats. Efficient damage assessment followed by effective restoration continues to repair injuries to our coastal resources through the DARRP.
DARRP has improved its effectiveness by promoting cooperation among trustee agencies and responsible parties for natural resource damage assessment and restoration. Protracted and costly litigation to recover damages is often avoided because NOAA, other co-trustees and the responsible parties seek to agree to a settlement to quickly resolve liability. This approach of working cooperatively with responsible parties to collect data and conduct assessments also minimizes costly duplication of effort, and accelerates both resource recovery and restoration.
NOAA's Trustee Role:
Stewardship of the nation's natural resources is shared among several Federal agencies, states and tribal trustees. Congress directed the Secretary of Commerce to assess and recover damages for injuries to natural resources from releases of oil and other hazardous substances. The Commerce Secretary has delegated this important responsibility to NOAA.
NOAA's responsibility is focused on specific trust resources, which include:
- commercial and recreational marine fishery resources including migratory fish (like salmon, which spawn in freshwater and then migrate to the sea)
- endangered and threatened marine species and their habitats (for example, sea turtles)
- marine mammals (such as whales, dolphins and seals)
- marshes, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and other coastal habitats
- all living marine resources associated with National Marine Sanctuaries and National Estuarine Research Reserves
Goals and Activities
The Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program has two primary goals:
- assess injury to NOAA trust resources caused by spills and chronic releases of hazardous materials or oil
- compensate the public for injury or loss of natural resources through quick and efficient restoration
NOAA has assembled a multi-disciplinary team of natural scientists, resource economists and lawyers qualified to:
- evaluate toxic releases
- assess and quantify injuries
- recover damages through negotiation or litigation
- develop and evaluate restoration alternatives
- implement successful restoration strategies
Benefits of the DARRP
The DARRP has successfully assessed damages and collected over $500 million for restoration. This money is being used to restore NOAA trust resources throughout the nation. NOAA's successful damage assessment and restoration efforts have made responsible parties more aware of releases of hazardous materials and their significance to the nation's coastal and marine resources. In addition to restoring injured resources, the program:
- provides incentives to the private sector to prevent injury
- holds the polluter responsible for restoring injury to public resources
- demonstrates that small investments in the damage assessment process yield big returns in restoration
Other benefits of the DARRP include:
- building effective partnerships with state, Federal and tribal trustees, and industry to protect and restore natural resources
- advancing the state of the art in environmental science and natural resource economics
- increasing public awareness of natural resource health and hazards through participation in the restoration planning process.
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