[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR990.55]

[Page 390-391]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
CHAPTER IX--NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 990--NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart E--Restoration Planning Phase
 
Sec. 990.55  Restoration selection--developing restoration plans.

    (a) General. OPA requires that damages be based upon a plan 
developed with opportunity for public review and comment. To meet this 
requirement, trustees must, at a minimum, develop a Draft and Final 
Restoration Plan, with an opportunity for public review of and comment 
on the draft plan.
    (b) Draft Restoration Plan. (1) The Draft Restoration Plan should 
include:
    (i) A summary of injury assessment procedures used;
    (ii) A description of the nature, degree, and spatial and temporal 
extent of injuries resulting from the incident;
    (iii) The goals and objectives of restoration;
    (iv) The range of restoration alternatives considered, and a 
discussion of how such alternatives were developed under Sec. 990.53 of 
this part, and evaluated under Sec. 990.54 of this part;
    (v) Identification of the trustees' tentative preferred 
alternative(s);
    (vi) A description of past and proposed involvement of the 
responsible parties in the assessment; and
    (vii) A description of monitoring for documenting restoration 
effectiveness, including performance criteria that will be used to 
determine the success of restoration or need for interim corrective 
action.
    (2) When developing the Draft Restoration Plan, trustees must 
establish

[[Page 391]]

restoration objectives that are specific to the injuries. These 
objectives should clearly specify the desired outcome, and the 
performance criteria by which successful restoration will be judged. 
Performance criteria may include structural, functional, temporal, and/
or other demonstrable factors. Trustees must, at a minimum, determine 
what criteria will:
    (i) Constitute success, such that responsible parties are relieved 
of responsibility for further restoration actions; or
    (ii) Necessitate corrective actions in order to comply with the 
terms of a restoration plan or settlement agreement.
    (3) The monitoring component to the Draft Restoration Plan should 
address such factors as duration and frequency of monitoring needed to 
gauge progress and success, level of sampling needed to detect success 
or the need for corrective action, and whether monitoring of a reference 
or control site is needed to determine progress and success. Reasonable 
monitoring and oversight costs cover those activities necessary to gauge 
the progress, performance, and success of the restoration actions 
developed under the plan.
    (c) Public review and comment. The nature of public review and 
comment on the Draft and Final Restoration Plans will depend on the 
nature of the incident and any applicable federal trustee NEPA 
requirements, as described in Secs. 990.14(d) and 990.23 of this part.
    (d) Final Restoration Plan. Trustees must develop a Final 
Restoration Plan that includes the information specified in paragraph 
(a) of this section, responses to public comments, if applicable, and an 
indication of any changes made to the Draft Restoration Plan.