Trustee Agencies Research Articles

AQUATIC RESOURCE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE UPPER OHIO RIVER BASIN USING A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

ABSTRACT The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania successfully negotiated a $1.75 million settlement with Ashland Oil Company for injuries to aquatic resources and recreational users resulting from the January 1988 oil spill into the lower Monongahela and upper Ohio Rivers. The commonwealth's natural resource trustee agencies reserved these funds for special studies to learn more about the aquatic resources of the impacted rivers. A project team including commonwealth agencies, consulting experts, and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission agreed to use the framework of a geographic information system (GIS) to organize geo-referenced natural resource data spatially. This paper discusses the development of a GIS base map of a river system modified by a series of navigation dams and outlines the ecological basis of the aquatic habitat classification system. This system divides individual navigation pools into component parts along longitudinal, cross-sectional, and vertical axes. These components are then combined to delimit aquatic areas and habitat conditions to define aquatic habitat types. These habitat types will serve as the basis for making an inventory of environmentally sensitive areas; and the completed GIS will have coverages of infrastructural, monitoring/regulatory, recreational, and environmental themes. The GIS will be used by Pennsylvania agencies in the management and protection of the natural resources supported by the Ohio River and its tributaries.

INNOVATIVE PROCEDURES FOR NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT1

ABSTRACT The State of Texas has developed an innovative scheme for resolving contentious issues in assessing natural resource damages from coastal oil spills. The Texas statute and regulations provide for mediation among state natural resource trustees to resolve differences among them when assessing natural resource damages. The state trustees have formally signed a memorandum of agreement to institute mediation whenever they have disputes about any aspect of damage assessment in a case. The statute and regulations also require the responsible person (the spiller) to mediate any disagreement about the assessment as a prerequisite to the jurisdiction of any court. This provision gives both the trustees and the responsible person an opportunity to reach a negotiated agreement without initiating expensive and lengthy litigation. The regulations implementing damage assessment procedures and protocols were developed through the use of a negotiated rulemaking process. This process brought together representatives from state trustee agencies, the regulated community, and citizen environmental groups. The Texas statute and rules require the state natural resource trustees to invite the responsible person to participate in all phases of the damage assessment process. By specifically providing for a negotiated assessment process, this provision encourages cooperation and discourages duplication and withholding of vital information. The regulations are designed to encourage the trustees and the responsible person to coordinate information, studies, and assessment procedures. The goal is to initiate restoration of the injured resources as quickly as possible without a “battle of the experts.” The regulations require the state trustees to coordinate their assessment activities in conjunction with federal natural resource trustees. The obvious benefits of the arrangement are to promote intergovernmental cooperation and coordination and to allow the responsible person to deal with a unified trustee response to damage assessment. The benefits to all parties are the swift initiation of restoration actions, efficient use of expended funds, and an open process.

Contemporary cartography: The NSW graphic data base

A decision of the New South Wales Cabinet in August 1984 to develop a New South Wales Land Information System (US) provided the opportunity to change from the static ‘paper map’ to a dynamic ‘electronic map’. It also provided the means of rationalising and reducing the duplication of land information. The LIS will be a network of interlinked computerised data bases being managed by ‘trustee agencies’. The system will embrace a wide range of land related data and information held by a variety of sources. A major component of the Land Information System will be the Graphic Data Base (GDB).