15 C.F.R. Subpart D—Preassessment Phase
Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade
The purpose of this subpart is to provide a process by which trustees determine if they have jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA and, if so, whether it is appropriate to do so. (a) Determination of jurisdiction. Upon learning of an incident, trustees must determine whether there is jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA. To make this determination, trustees must decide if: (1) An incident has occurred, as defined in §990.30 of this part; (2) The incident is not: (i) Permitted under a permit issued under federal, state, or local law; or (ii) From a public vessel; or (iii) From an onshore facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651, et seq.; and (3) Natural resources under the trusteeship of the trustee may have been, or may be, injured as a result of the incident. (b) Proceeding with preassessment. If the conditions listed in paragraph (a) of this section are met, trustees may proceed under this part. If one of the conditions is not met, trustees may not take additional action under this part, except action to finalize this determination. Trustees may recover all reasonable assessment costs incurred up to this point provided that conditions in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section were met and actions were taken with the reasonable belief that natural resources or services under their trusteeship might have been injured as a result of the incident. (a) Determination on restoration planning. If trustees determine that there is jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA, trustees must determine whether: (1) Injuries have resulted, or are likely to result, from the incident; (2) Response actions have not adequately addressed, or are not expected to address, the injuries resulting from the incident; and (3) Feasible primary and/or compensatory restoration actions exist to address the potential injuries. (b) Proceeding with preassessment. If the conditions listed in paragraph (a) of this section are met, trustees may proceed under §990.44 of this part. If one of these conditions is not met, trustees may not take additional action under this part, except action to finalize this determination. However, trustees may recover all reasonable assessment costs incurred up to this point. Trustees may conduct data collection and analyses that are reasonably related to Preassessment Phase activities. Data collection and analysis during the Preassessment Phase must be coordinated with response actions such that collection and analysis does not interfere with response actions. Trustees may collect and analyze the following types of data during the Preassessment Phase: (a) Data reasonably expected to be necessary to make a determination of jurisdiction under §990.41 of this part, or a determination to conduct restoration planning under §990.42 of this part; (b) Ephemeral data; and (c) Information needed to design or implement anticipated assessment procedures under subpart E of this part. (a) General. If trustees determine that all the conditions under §990.42(a) of this part are met and trustees decide to proceed with the natural resource damage assessment, they must prepare a Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning. (b) Contents of the notice. The Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning must include a discussion of the trustees' analyses under §§990.41 and 990.42 of this part. Depending on information available at this point, the notice may include the trustees' proposed strategy to assess injury and determine the type and scale of restoration. The contents of a notice may vary, but will typically discuss: (1) The facts of the incident; (2) Trustee authority to proceed with the assessment; (3) Natural resources and services that are, or are likely to be, injured as a result of the incident; (4) Potential restoration actions relevant to the expected injuries; and (5) If determined at the time, potential assessment procedures to evaluate the injuries and define the appropriate type and scale of restoration for the injured natural resources and services. (c) Public availability of the notice. Trustees must make a copy of the Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning publicly available. The means by which the notice is made publicly available and whether public comments are solicited on the notice will depend on the nature and extent of the incident and various information requirements, and is left to the discretion of the trustees. (d) Delivery of the notice to the responsible parties. Trustees must send a copy of the notice to the responsible parties, to the extent known, in such a way as will establish the date of receipt, and invite responsible parties' participation in the conduct of restoration planning. Consistent with §990.14(c) of this part, the determination of the timing, nature, and extent of responsible party participation will be determined by the trustees on an incident-specific basis. (a) If trustees decide to proceed with restoration planning, they must open a publicly available administrative record to document the basis for their decisions pertaining to restoration. The administrative record should be opened concurrently with the publication of the Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning. Depending on the nature and extent of the incident and assessment, the administrative record should include documents relied upon during the assessment, such as: (1) Any notice, draft and final restoration plans, and public comments; (2) Any relevant data, investigation reports, scientific studies, work plans, quality assurance plans, and literature; and (3) Any agreements, not otherwise privileged, among the participating trustees or with the responsible parties. (b) Federal trustees should maintain the administrative record in a manner consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 551–59, 701–06.
Title 15: Commerce and Foreign Trade
PART 990—NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS
Subpart D—Preassessment Phase
§ 990.40 Purpose.
§ 990.41 Determination of jurisdiction.
§ 990.42 Determination to conduct restoration planning.
§ 990.43 Data collection.
§ 990.44 Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning.
§ 990.45 Administrative record.
