Budget Overview

There are two sources of funds for the NRDA Restoration Program – “appropriated funds” received annually from the Congress and “recoveries” received from the entities responsible for natural resource injuries.  These funds are maintained and managed in the DOI Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Fund (Restoration Fund).

In February of each year, the President sends a budget request to Congress listing the funds that the government needs to operate its various programs for the following year.  The NRDA Restoration Program is no exception.   The Program’s budget is organized into three components: damage assessment, restoration support, and program management.  Over the last several years, the NRDA Restoration Program has received approximately $6 million in its annual appropriation.  The most recent budget request is summarized in the table below and can be found in its entirety in the 2012 Budget Justification.

Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request to Congress (Dollars in Thousands)
Activity Damage Assessment Restoration Supports Program Management Total	2012 Request 3,743 614 1,906 6,263

In addition, the Program receives money, called “damages” in the NRDA Restoration legal setting, from responsible parties.  These recovered damages include funds used to restore the injured natural resources, as well as funds recovered as a reimbursement for the cost of performing damage assessments.   The money received from responsible parties for restoration of natural resource injuries is used to address the injuries from a specific damage assessment case.  Such recoveries are used for the planning, implementation, management, and monitoring of projects to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured resources.  Since 2006, the Program has disbursed approximately $30 million annually to the Department’s Bureaus and its co-trustees for restoration activities.
 
Recovered assessment costs supplement the appropriated damage assessment money and can be used anywhere nation-wide to address new or continuing damage assessment cases.   Over the past five years, the Program has utilized between one and two million dollars annually in recovered assessment costs.  Additionally, in some instances where the Department is conducting a damage assessment with cooperative responsible parties, funds may be provided in advance by the responsible parties to cover the costs of agreed-to studies and activities conducted by the Department and its bureaus.

Further Reading

• Budget Justifications Greenbooks (FY2005 - FY2013)