Improve the efficiency of restoration through a proactive and collaborative planning effort.

The role of natural resource trustees is to restore natural resources held in public trust which have been injured by the release of or threat of release of oil, thereby compensating the public for the lost resources and/or services resulting from the incident.

State of Louisiana and federal natural resource trustees have developed a statewide Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program (RRP Program) to assist the natural resource trustees in carrying out their Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) responsibilities for discharges or substantial threats of discharges of oil (referred to herein as “incident(s)”).

The goals of this statewide program are to:

(1) expedite and reduce the cost of the NRDA process
(2) provide for consistency and predictability by describing in detail the NRDA process,      thereby increasing understanding of the process by the public and industry
(3) increase restoration of lost natural resources and services

Attainment of these goals will serve to make the NRDA process as a whole more efficient in Louisiana.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 USC 2701 et seq. and the Louisiana Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1991 (OSPRA), La. Rev. Stat. 30:2451 et seq., are the principal federal and state statutes, respectively, which authorize federal and state agencies and tribal officials to act as natural resource trustees for the recovery of natural resource damages resulting from incidents in Louisiana. The Louisiana RRP Program is established to address incidents in accordance with OPA and OSPRA. The Louisiana RRP Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), and associated program documents may be viewed at (http://www.losco.state.la.us/admin/RRP/RRPprogram_view.asp).

Potentially Injured Resources/Services – The Louisiana RRP Program defines those natural resources and services in Louisiana that are likely to be or are anticipated to be injured (i.e., at risk) by oil spills as potentially injured resources/services. Identification of these potentially injured resources/services will facilitate the expedient development of restoration alternatives during the restoration planning phase. The potentially injured resources/services are listed under three broad categories: coastal, inland, and statewide.

Restoration Types – The Louisiana RRP Program PEIS identifies restoration types that are appropriate for the restoration of injuries for each of the identified potentially injured resources/services in the program. These restoration type categories are:

• Creation/Enhancement
• Physical Protection of Habitat
• Acquisition/Legal Protection
• Stocking of Fauna
• Physical Protection of Fauna
• Restoration of Recreation Resource Services
• Restoration of Cultural Resource Services

The Louisiana RRP Program describes the specific restoration type(s) in each restoration type category that is appropriate for the restoration of injuries to each of the identified potentially injured resources/services in the Louisiana RRP Program. This determination of the range of appropriate restoration types was based on a nexus analysis. The trustees also conducted an environmental consequences analysis on the restoration types by evaluating impacts of implementing various restoration techniques. Both analyses will result in technical, process, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance efficiencies at the case level during the restoration planning phase. The trustees will be able to use relevant analysis and information from the PEIS to produce the incident(s)-specific Damage Assessment and Restoration Plans (DARPs) and environmental assessment(s).

The trustees have also developed restoration type selection criteria that will assist in determining which of the various restoration types identified will be most appropriate to restore the resources/services injured during a given incident. It is anticipated that the criteria will also provide a level of predictability to the public and affected parties regarding restoration project selection. Furthermore, projects in each Regional Restoration Plan (RRP) will be classified by restoration type to facilitate the selection of specific restoration projects based on the type of resource(s) injured. This approach will streamline the process of evaluating and selecting preferred restoration project(s) for review by the public.

Settlement Alternatives – The Louisiana RRP Program PEIS describes a number of additional case settlement alternatives that will assist the trustees and Responsible Parties in negotiations to resolve Responsible Party liabilities for incidents. These settlement alternatives generally represent different ways of resolving liability from an incident under one or the other (or both) of the two options: Responsible Party implemented restoration, or Responsible Party cash settlement and trustee implemented restoration. These settlement alternatives may also provide opportunities for implementing restoration projects more quickly and cost-effectively; e.g., pooling settlements to implement larger projects than could otherwise be accomplished by using individual settlements, and potentially facilitating implementation of more ecologically significant projects.

Screening Criteria – In order to improve the consistency, predictability, and accountability of the NRDA decision-making process, the trustees identified and defined project selection and other screening criteria to be used in implementing the Louisiana RRP Program, including:

• Selection of restoration projects to be incorporated into each RRP
• Selection of most appropriate restoration type(s) to restore the injured resources/services in a case (discussed above)
• Selection of projects for implementation under the Non-Project-Specific Cash Out alternative
• Project selection/screening of specific restoration actions required for a case

The Louisiana RRP Program, including the region-specific plans, is intended to benefit the public, industry, and natural resource trustees by:

• Providing greater opportunities to restore injuries to trust resources/services
• Expediting restoration of injured resources/services from incidents
• Reducing the cost of restoration planning and implementation
• Pooling of individual case recoveries to provide for implementation of larger, more ecologically significant restoration projects
• Providing for more consistency and predictability by describing in detail the NRDA process, thereby increasing understanding of the process by the public and industry
• Improving coordination between restoration activities under the NRDA mandates and other restoration efforts in the State of Louisiana
• Enhancing the capability for trustees to restore resources/services injured by incidents for which there is no viable Responsible Party
• Maximizing opportunities for partnering among Responsible Parties, trustees, and other public and private restoration efforts
• Increasing opportunity for public participation in the NRDA process through pre-incident planning