Integrating Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Environmental Cleanup Activities at CERCLA and RCRA Sites

Abstract

AbstractAlthough the release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment often creates liability for both cleanup costs and natural resource damages liability, the process of planning and conducting cleanup and the process of assessing natural resource damages are most often conducted separately. However, the substantial similarities between the two processes often present opportunities to integrate significant steps in each. Such integration has the potential to reduce both the cost of measuring and, often, resolving the full range of environmental claims at a given cleanup site and the time it takes to do so. It can also lead to faster restoration of injured natural resources and the services they provide to the public and the environment. One key reason for the lack of integration is the fact that cleanup managers generally know little if anything about the natural resource damage assessment process, while the public officials authorized to assess damages to natural resources know little about the cleanup process. This article identifies the similarities between the cleanup and natural resource damage assessment processes and provides guidance on when and how to integrate the two. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.