Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration

Assistance is provided to fund NRDAR-related activities that fall under two main sub-activities: 1) assessment, and 2) restoration. Assessment activities are funded from either appropriated funds or recovered past assessment costs. While assessment funding is discretionary, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other DOI Bureaus involved in NRDAR cases work as collaboratively as possible with our co-Trustees (e.g., states, federally-recognized tribes, and other federal agencies with natural resource management responsibilities that were impacted by the specific NRDAR case) when deciding what assessment activities to conduct and when to offer financial assistance for specific assessment activities. Assessment activities support the specific NRDAR case and legal claim, and can include identifying the natural resources injured and any loss of services they provide (such as recreation), determining the extent of the injuries, scaling restoration costs and projects to the injuries, and determining damages (i.e., cost) necessary to restore the injured natural resources and services.

Restoration activities are funded from NRDAR case-specific settlement funds that were paid by the responsible party (or parties) to all Natural Resource Trustees that were part of the NRDAR claim. These funds are non-discretionary as their use is dictated by the court consent decree (CD) or the court-lodged settlement for the case. Furthermore, all Natural Resource Trustees must unanimously approve the expenditure of case settlement funds on restoration activities, through the administrative body of a Trustee Council (TC) and a TC Resolution. Additionally, the TC produces a restoration plan(s), which is publicly reviewed, that further directs how settlement funds are to be spent and the type of restoration projects and activities that can be conducted. Again, this restoration plan(s) involves the unanimous approval of all TC members before it can be finalized and implemented. Restoration activities are intended to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured natural resources and their services. They can include the planning, implementation, and monitoring of restoration projects; the acquisition of land (for replacement of habitat, the benefit of injured wildlife species, and the benefit of the public); the creation of habitat, such as aquatic habitat in a stream or lake; and the creation, improvement, or enhancement of natural resource services, such as boating, hiking, and fishing opportunities, to replace lost services.

All assistance provided for NRDAR activities, both assessment and restoration, must meet the intent of the NRDAR Program as well as the specific needs of a given NRDAR case.