Restoration Planning

The Commencement Bay natural resource trustees have developed a baywide restoration plan and are designing and building a series of habitat restoration projects using funds, property, and inkind services obtained through damage claim settlements. The trustees' restoration planning began with and was built upon the Commencement Bay Cumulative Impact Study (May/June 1993), which was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That study analyzed the impact of dredge-and-fill activities on the bay's aquatic resources and identified restoration and mitigation options.

During Phase 1 of the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) process, the trustees, potentially responsible parties, and local environmental organizations that make up the Commencement Bay NRDA Restoration Panel developed restoration goals and project evaluation criteria, and identified and evaluated a series of potential restoration sites. Building on the work of the restoration panel, the trustees prepared the baywide restoration plan and environmental impact statement to guide restoration project selection, design, and development. The restoration plan was formally adopted on October 3, 1997.

Trustees' Restoration Vision

Early in the restoration planning process, the trustees recognized the need to develop a baywide restoration vision. The vision integrates the restoration goals and concepts developed to date, and emphasizes baywide restoration through taking an ecosystem or landscape approach rather than by creating isolated fragments of habitats.

Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

Under the NRDA process, the trustees needed to determine the best approach to restoring, replacing, rehabilitating, or acquiring the equivalent natural resources or services injured. To guide the restoration planning process, the trustees prepared a restoration plan and programmatic environmental impact statement (RP/EIS). After evaluating the alternatives, the trustees concluded that the preferred alternative was an integrated approach. This alternative best suited the restoration goals and principles by maximizing the ecological benefits for a wide range of natural resources and their associated services. This approach was adopted by the Federal agencies' record of decision.

Restoration Projects