Oil Spill Restoration Chief Says Penalties Should Support Gulf Coast Cleanup Projects

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BNA, INC.

ENVIRONMENT REPORTER Reproduced with permission from Environment Reporter, ER 10-1-10, 10/01/2010. Copyright 姝 2010 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com

Gulf of Mexico

Oil Spill Restoration Chief Says Penalties Should Support Gulf Coast Cleanup Projects he Obama administration’s plan for restoring the Gulf Coast, released Sept. 28, asks Congress to amend the Clean Water Act to divert ‘‘significant funds’’ from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to Gulf of Mexico restoration projects.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus released the 130-page document, America’s Gulf Coast: A Long Term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, at a news conference in New Orleans. Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, was appointed June 15 by President Obama to develop a long-term restoration plan for the Gulf Coast once the Gulf oil spill was contained.

Obama said in a statement after the plan was released, ‘‘The Mabus report offers a commonsense proposal for a path forward’’ that relies on input from and addresses concerns of the states and local communities, tribes, and organizations in the Gulf Coast.

Obama said he will ask Congress to consider recommendations for dedicated funding and other proposals in the plan, but ‘‘we will not allow the recovery to wait for congressional action.’’

A few of the report’s recommendations would require congressional action, including the proposal for a ‘‘significant amount of any civil penalties recovered under the Clean Water Act from the Deepwater Horizon spill’’ to be diverted to a new fund to be managed by a Gulf Coast Recovery Council.

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New Mechanism Needed. ‘‘The Deepwater Horizon was more than an order of magnitude greater than any other oil spill the nation has faced to date’’ and therefore, a new mechanism to help fund restoration and recovery operations is needed, the report said. ‘‘These funds would otherwise be sitting in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund waiting for the next oil spill,’’ COPYRIGHT 姝 2010 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC.

Mabus told reporters. ‘‘There is a very compelling case to be made for this,’’ he said.

Penalties paid by parties responsible for oil spills go into the trust fund administered by the Coast Guard’s National Pollution Funds Center and are not used for post-response activity. They are there to be drawn upon for future oil spill responses.

BP has been reimbursing the federal government for the Coast Guard’s and other agencies’ response to the Gulf oil spill.

Asked how much money would be proposed for the Gulf Recovery Trust Fund, Mabus said that is a matter for Congress to decide.

At a meeting of the BP Oil Spill Commission Sept. 28, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) suggested, ‘‘No less than 80 percent of the civil and criminal penalties should be directed’’ to the Gulf states. She said the fines could amount to ‘‘anywhere from $10 billion to $30 billion.’’

Landrieu noted that additional funds could result from claims against BP and other responsible parties as a result of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process, which determines the cost of restoring damage and also puts a price on the lost use of the damaged resources.

No New Federal Funds. Mabus said, ‘‘I think this is a very different sort of request’’ of Congress. ‘‘There is a responsible party here,’’ and it is not a request for new federal funds, he said.

Mabus said he had discussed the proposal with every member of the Gulf Coast delegation to Congress and the five Gulf Coast governors. The Obama administration supports the proposal and will be working to ‘‘get this done expeditiously,’’ Mabus said.

Mabus also asked for swift disbursal of about $600 million in Coastal Impact Assistance Program funds, which the government collects through royalties from oil and gas companies and then returns to producer states to pay for environmental projects.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said the Recovery Plan ‘‘makes a solid start toward restoring the Gulf Coast.’’

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2 He also said the Sierra Club supports using Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund money for restoring the Gulf, saying, ‘‘a long-term fund dedicated to Gulf Coast recovery’’ is essential.

But the Gulf Coast recovery must be paid for by BP, he added, pledging that the Sierra Club would continue working to ‘‘make sure BP pays for its mess.’’

Jackson to Head Interim Task Force. The Restoration Plan also asked Congress to establish a federal-state Gulf Coast Recovery Council to coordinate the longterm restoration efforts and administer funds from all sources.

In the meantime, an executive order will establish the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, which will begin the Recovery Council’s work.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced at the news conference that President Obama has appointed her to lead the Task Force.

The executive order is expected from the White House ‘‘by mid-October’’ or sooner, Jackson said.

The overall focus of the plan is on restoring the economy, restoring ecosystems, and supporting public health, including mental health.

These three areas are ‘‘inextricably linked’’ because whatever happens to the ecosystem affects the economy and the welfare of all Gulf Coast residents, the report said.

National Audubon Society President David Yarnold said in a statement, ‘‘We cannot afford to ignore [the report’s] recommendation or let political bickering stand in the way.’’

Yarnold called it ‘‘wise’’ that the president is establishing a temporary task force and putting Jackson in the lead, but he added, ‘‘Only the Senate can keep the ball moving.’’

Resource Trustees on Council. Assessing the damage done by the oil spill and writing a restoration plan for that damage—apart from any larger restoration effort—is the task of natural resource trustees, consisting of federal and state agencies as well as local Native American tribes. They are charged with carrying out the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

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Mabus said all trustees of the Gulf Coast Natural Resource Damage Trustee Council will also belong to the proposed Gulf Coast Recovery Council, and he told BNA that the councils will ‘‘be closely associated’’ with each other.

While it would be a separate body, the council should support, closely coordinate with, and possibly share membership with the Natural Resource Damage Trustee Council in order to ensure coordinated ecosystem restoration actions across the region without preempting the NRDA decisions of the Trustee Council. ‘‘They will not be going down parallel paths,’’ he said.

In some cases, their efforts can piggy-back, he added.

There will be situations where, for a marginal amount of additional money, some greater restoration plan can be accomplished if the Recovery Council can take the NRDA process a step or two further, he said.

‘Listening to Gulf.’ Mabus told reporters the plan resulted from ‘‘listening to the Gulf’’ as he traveled 1,400 miles since June and held 34 major meetings and ‘‘countless smaller ones,’’ gathering input from people most affected by the Gulf oil spill. There is a ‘‘strong role for states and localities’’ in implementing the plan, Mabus said.

President Obama appointed Mabus June 15 to develop a long-term Gulf Coast restoration plan. At the time, Obama promised the people of the Gulf Coast a meaningful role and that the restoration would go ‘‘beyond responding to the crisis of the moment’’ and would be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents (41 ER 1380, 6/18/10).

The Gulf Coast Recovery Council would include representatives from 13 federal agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Interior, along with EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.

BY JANICE VALVERDE The report, America’s Gulf Coast: A Long Term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, is available at http://www.restorethegulf.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/pdf/gulf-recovery-sep-2010.pdf.

COPYRIGHT 姝 2010 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC.

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