[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 15, Volume 3]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 15CFR990.55]



[Page 393-394]

 

                  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 394]]



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 Sec. Sec. 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.