NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration

What is a natural resource?
What is an “injured” resource?
What are natural resource “services”?
Who are the trustees?
What is a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)?
What are the phases of the NRDA process?
What is the National Contingency Plan?
What is a cooperative assessment?
What is the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP)?
What is a habitat equivalency analysis (HEA)?
What is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA)?
What is NOAA’s role during an oil spill?
What is the Coast Guard’s role?
What is the National Weather Service’s role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?
What is a responsible party?
What is restoration?
What are primary restoration projects?
What are compensatory restoration projects?
What is emergency restoration?
What is a Technical Working Group (TWG)?
What kinds of restoration projects will take place?
What constitutes “damage” to a resource?
Gulf Dolphin Questions and Answers

What is a natural resource?
A natural resource comes from the environment and is essential for us to survive. Oceans, forests, and animals are natural resources.

What is an “injured” resource?
“Injured” is a term we use to define the adverse impacts caused to natural resources after a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Injuries to resources are observable or measurable negative changes such as destruction and the loss of use.

What are natural resource “services”?
“Services” is another term we use in damage assessment to identify and quantify the environmental and human benefits provided by our natural resources. Ecological services include flood control, sediment stabilization, and habitat. Human services derived from natural resources include fishing, beach-going, and wildlife viewing. Environmental services can be “injured” after an oil spill or other hazardous substance release.

Who are the trustees?
Trustees are a group of state, federal and tribal officials charged with protecting and restoring the public’s natural resources. They oversee the evaluation of the impacts caused by an oil spill or hazardous substance release. Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill include representatives from NOAA, the Department of Interior, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas. NOAA is a federal trustee for coastal and marine resources through the Department of Commerce.

What is a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)?
NRDA is an environmental investigation overseen by the designated trustees to identify impacts and plan and implement the restoration of natural resources impacted by oil spills and hazardous substance releases.

What are the phases of the NRDA process?
The first step of the NRDA process is to evaluate whether there were any impacts to natural resources caused by a spill (preliminary assessment). If impacts occurred, the second phase (injury assessment and restoration planning) quantifies the impacts and what could be done to restore natural resources. The third and final step (restoration) restores natural resources back to where they were before the spill.

What is the National Contingency Plan?
The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, more commonly called the National Contingency Plan, is the federal government’s blueprint for responding to oil spills and hazardous substance releases. NOAA represents the Department of Commerce on the National Response Team and works closely with regional response teams and local area committees. NOAA provides support in the development of policies on dispersant use, best clean-up practices and communications, and provides scientific and technical resources and expertise.

What is a cooperative assessment?
Regulations adopted to implement the Oil Pollution Act require the trustees to ask the responsible party to participate in the assessment of impacts. Cooperative assessments are done by trustees and the party responsible for the incident after an oil spill or hazardous substance release. This cooperation generally results in faster, more efficient restoration of impacted natural resources. However, the trustees may modify or terminate cooperation whenever they feel it is the best interests of the American public.

What is the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP)?
DARRP is a multi-office program within NOAA. DARRP includes the National Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Office of General Counsel. DARRP scientists, economists, and attorneys conduct natural resource damage assessments and restoration projects for coastal and marine resources impacted by oil, hazardous material releases, and vessel groundings.

What is a habitat equivalency analysis (HEA)?
This is a method developed by NOAA for estimating how much restoration is needed to replace the loss of natural resources from the time they are impacted until they are returned to the condition they would have been in if the release had not occurred.

What is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA)?
OPA is legislation designed to prevent oil spills, ensure cleanup if they happen, and restore natural resources impacted by these spills.

What is NOAA’s role during an oil spill?
NOAA has three critical roles mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the National Contingency Plan:

1. To serve as a channel for scientific information to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, including providing trajectory predictions for spilled oil, flyover observations of oil on water, identification of highly valued or sensitive habitats or resources, and shoreline surveys of oil to determine clean-up priorities.
2. To conduct a joint natural resource damage assessment with other trustees. The goal is to restore any ocean and coastal resources harmed by the spill. This includes fulfilling the role of Natural Resource Trustee for impacted marine resources.
3. To represent Department of Commerce interests in spill response decision-making through the Regional Response Team.

What is the Coast Guard’s role?
The U.S. Coast Guard has the primary responsibility for managing coastal oil spill response and clean-up activities in the impacted coastal zone.

What is the National Weather Service’s role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?
NOAA’s National Weather Service is providing critical weather forecasting support for the spill at multiple command centers. Special aviation, marine, wind, and wave forecasts support response activities. A marine meteorologist is currently stationed at the Joint Operations Center in Houma, LA. NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center data is also being incorporated into oil trajectory forecasts.

What is a responsible party?
The party or parties (e.g., individuals, companies, or government agencies) responsible for an oil spill or hazardous substance release.

What is restoration?
Rehabilitating, replacing, or acquiring the equivalent of injured natural resources and the services they provided. Restoration includes both primary and compensatory restoration projects.

What are primary restoration projects?
Projects to restore natural resources injured by oil or hazardous substance releases to the condition that would have existed if the incident had not occurred.

What are compensatory restoration projects?
Projects to compensate for interim losses of natural resources and the services they provide—from the time of injury until recovery is completed.

What is emergency restoration?
Under the Oil Pollution Act, emergency restoration may be undertaken by the trustees during the response phase to minimize or prevent injury to natural resources. Emergency restoration must not interfere with the response effort and must be approved by the on-scene coordinator.

What is a Technical Working Group (TWG)?
These groups develop and carry out pre- and post-impact field studies. For the Deepwater Horizon spill, the technical working groups are collecting data on:

• Water Column
• Fisheries and plankton
• Submerged aquatic vegetation
• Shorelines
• Subtidal habitats
• Shallow and deepwater corals
• Birds
• Marine mammals and turtles
• Wildlife
• Human uses, for example, fishing, hunting, and beach closures

Sample collection includes water, sediment, and tissues for chemical analyses. Data is collected through land and ship-based sampling and aerial surveys.

What kinds of restoration projects will take place?
Examples of possible restoration projects include:

• Habitat creation and enhancement of wetlands, coral reefs, sea grass, and waterfowl habitat
• Dam removal and fish passage
• Preserving sensitive habitats
• Removal of invasive species
• Recreational projects for fishing, boating, and swimming
• Projects that prevent or reduce pollution

What constitutes “damage” to a resource?
“Damage” is the amount of money or services sought by the natural resource trustees as appropriate to compensate for the injury through natural resource restoration or replacement projects.