Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Methods and Cases

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Sophisticated assessment methods such as contingent valuation or the indirect valuation methods (averting behavior and travel cost analyses) are not strictly tools of consultants. Table 1.16 shows that while most such tools were wielded by consultants, trustees report having performed some such studies themselves. Similarly, trustees are not the only analysts using simplified methods; they report their consultants having used such methods as well. A breakdown of methods by injured resource, Table 1.17, also shows a lack of specialization across resources; varied NRDA methods are used to assess damages from injuries of all sorts. Of the cases in the data, 61 have been settled completely, six have been the subject of a partial settlement, 20 remain unsettled, and one was reported without information on settlement status. Among the 41 cases for which information was provided about both the date of injury and the date of settlement, some settlements were reached less than a year after the event that led to the NRDs, while others took decades to reach. When two Superfund outliers are dropped from the calculation (contamination at those sites began in the 1870s), the average length of time between event and settlement is about 11 years, and the median is four. A few cases settled for less than $10,000. However, the median settlement is close to $300,000 and the mean settlement is over eight million dollars. Five cases settled for more than ten million dollars (see Table 1.18). Figure 1.1 indicates that settlements have been higher for cases that were assessed using relatively sophisticated NRDA tools. While this probably reflects the fact that trustees do not choose to use expensive assessment methods when the damages are likely to be small, it is possible that it is easier for trustees to land larger settlements when they can back up their estimates with highly credible analyses. Figure 1.2 indicates that the largest recent settlements have been for NRDs associated with big Superfund sites, and that only small cases have been pursued under the auspices of state law. This is consistent with the data shown in Figure 1.3. The largest mean settlements are associated with the sort of uncommonly-claimed resource injuries (such as injuries to cultural resources) that tend to be associated with CERCLA cases. Finally, Figure 1.4 shows that there has not been a great gap between NRD estimates made by trustees and the settlements that are finally achieved. The points in the scatter-plot are visibly clustered around the 45-degree line, and the correlation coefficient between NRD estimates and settlements is .9956. Table 1.18 Amount of Settlement a Total settlement ($) Number of cases 0 – 10,000 5 10,001 - 100,000 12 100,001 – 1,000,000 12 1,000,001 - 10,000,000 10 10,000,001 + 5 Any settlement reported 44 a This value includes cost estimates of compensatory restoration or acquisition done by the PRP under the settlement. 12
Mean Settlement (million $) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1.40 0.46 Own tool, "other" Benefit transfer 58.34 Appraisal, market price 50.33 Travel cost, averting behavior NRDA Method Figure 1.1 Mean Settlement by NRDA Method Mean Settlement (million $) 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 4.69 17.11 13 83.78 6.43 CV HEA 0.20 OPA CERCLA State law only Statute Invoked Figure 1.2 Mean Settlement by Statute Invoked
Page 1 and 2: WMRC Reports Waste Management and R
Page 3 and 4: RR-108 Natural Resource Damage Asse
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgments Funding was provide
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 1: Tables and Figures Table
Page 9 and 10: staff of agencies that are just beg
Page 11 and 12: All: 64 Nevada Division of Environm
Page 13 and 14: Table 1.5 Number of Cases Settled b
Page 15 and 16: Table 1.9 Number of Potentially Res
Page 17: Table 1.14 Cost to Trustee of Perfo
Page 21 and 22: V. Conclusions Trustees have had re
Page 23 and 24: Appendix: Materials in Information-
Page 25 and 26: NRD: Natural resource damages. Guid
Page 27 and 28: Survey of State Natural Resource Da
Page 29 and 30: 19) Has this case been settled? (Ch
Page 31 and 32: I. Introduction Chapter 2 Simplifie
Page 33 and 34: Number of Spills 1,000 800 600 400
Page 35 and 36: damages not quantifiable at reasona
Page 37 and 38: (b) Columbia River Estuary: Bird, f
Page 39 and 40: Example of the Washington method in
Page 41 and 42: % of All Cases 35 30 25 20 15 10 5
Page 43 and 44: preventing excessive expenditures o
Page 45 and 46: Example of the Florida formula in u
Page 47 and 48: damages to natural resources at con
Page 49 and 50: discharge on receptors studied in t
Page 51 and 52: Information for this calculation is
Page 53 and 54: ased funding for the program was pr
Page 55 and 56: a spill occurs in a high income are
Page 57 and 58: References Cozine, M. H. 1999. “N
Page 59 and 60: Chapter 3: Tables and Figures Table
Page 61 and 62: This chapter will examine the exten
Page 63 and 64: Comprehensive Environmental Respons
Page 65 and 66: Output price P0 C D S0 is the suppl
Page 67 and 68: Travel-cost analysis can be used fo
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area B and computing willingness to
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Table 3.1: Summary of Studies Estim
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Schultz and Lindsay (1990) estimate
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Table 3.3: Using Benefits Transfer
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Number of Cases 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
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Table 3.4 Groundwater Case Studies
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and overall protection of the resou
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References Abdalla, C. W. 1991. “
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Nielson, E. G. and L.K. Lee. Octobe
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United States, adjoining shorelines
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Once there is a “release” of a
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1997). Second, there can be no reco
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settlement of NRD claim prior to an
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egulations divide the assessment pr
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Damages: The trustees calculated th
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The State hired consultants (ARCADI
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C. Lake Barre/Texaco Site: The site
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would be inefficient and unnecessar
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Damages: The U.S. Coast Guard requi
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Creek and the cultural importance o
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