Natural Resource Damage Assessments Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 990

Natural Resource Damage Assessments Under the Oil Pollution Act

of 1990

agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of the

Department of Commerce.

action: Proposed rule; Notice of public meeting and extension of

comment period.

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summary: Section 1006(e)(1) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires

the President, acting through the Under Secretary for Oceans and

Atmosphere to promulgate regulations for the assessment of natural

resource damages resulting from the discharge of oil. The National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed those

regulations on January 7, 1994 (59 1062). Today's Notice announces a

public meeting to be held on March 24-25, 1994, in Washington, DC, and

extends the comment period on the proposed rule to July 7, 1994.

dates: Written comments on the January 7, 1994 proposed rule (59 FR

1062) should be received no later than July 7, 1994.

addresses: Written inquiries are to be submitted to: Damage Assessment

Regulations Team (DART), c/o NOAA/DAC, 1350 East-West Highway, SSMC #4,

10th Floor, Workstation #10218, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

for further information contact: Linda Burlington or Karl Gleaves,

Office of General Counsel, DART, telephone 202-606-8000; FAX: 202-606-

4900.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On January 7, 1994 (59 FR 1062), NOAA published a notice of

proposed rulemaking concerning the natural resource damage assessment

and restoration regulations required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

NOAA requested comments, recommendations, and technical information

concerning appropriate assessment procedures and the overall assessment

process. NOAA also announced a series of regional meetings to discuss

and solicit comments on the proposed rule (59 FR 1189). Comments on the

proposed rule were to be received by April 7, 1994. Through today's

Notice, NOAA announces a public meeting concerning the proposed rule

and an extension of the comment period.

II. Public Meeting

NOAA has held six regional meetings in January and February of 1994

to discuss the proposed natural resource damage assessment regulations

and to encourage future cooperative efforts among various natural

resource trustees and potentially responsible parties. NOAA has

received requests from these meeting participants and other interested

parties that an additional meeting should be held in Washington, DC, to

discuss and take questions on the proposed rule and to report on the

regional meetings. Therefore, NOAA will hold a meeting on March 24-25,

1994, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. The meeting will be held in

Room 4830 at the Department of Commerce, 14th and Pennsylvania Ave.,

NW., Washington, DC. This meeting will be open to the public, however,

representatives of organizations that have a direct interest in the

assessment process and the proposed rule are encouraged to attend. Such

interested organizations may include, but are not limited to: Federal

response and trustee agencies; States; Indian tribes; foreign trustees;

industries or industry organizations; natural scientists; and

economists.

The general format of the meeting is as follows (although it may be

revised in some part): the morning of March 24 will be devoted mainly

to a discussion of issues that were of most concern in the regional

meetings, as well as an opportunity to raise new issues; the afternoon

of March 24 will provide an opportunity to report on the cooperative

prespill planning workshops with a discussion of the possibilities and

concerns that arose during those meetings. On March 25, the morning

session will be divided into three concurrent discussion groups: one

group to discuss the legal/procedural issues; a second group to discuss

the scientific/resource issues; and the third group to discuss the

economic/valuation issues. In the afternoon of March 25, all groups

will come together again to begin a question and answer period devoted

to both the proposed rule and the cooperative efforts.

III. Comment Period for Proposed Rule

NOAA has received numerous requests to extend the comment period

for the proposed rule. Several of the participants in the regional

meetings asked for more time to review the compensation formulas in

particular. Because NOAA wants to encourage a thorough and thoughtful

review of all components of the proposed rule, the comment period will

be extended for ninety days. Therefore, comments on the proposed rule

are now due on or before July 7, 1994. Comments are to be submitted to

the address given at the beginning of this Notice.

Authority: Sec. 1006(e), Pub. L. 101-380.

Dated: February 23, 1994.

Meredith J. Jones,

General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[FR Doc. 94-4534 Filed 2-28-94; 8:45 am]

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