Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 60457

Environmental Review

This action changes the using agency

of the restricted areas. There are no

changes to the existing boundaries,

altitudes, times of designation, or the

activities conducted within the affected

restricted areas. Accordingly, the FAA

has determined that this action is not

subject to environmental assessments

and procedures in accordance with FAA

Order 1050.1D, ‘‘Policies and

Procedures for Considering

Environmental Impacts,’’ and the

National Environmental Policy Act.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 73

Airspace, Navigation (air).

Adoption of the Amendment

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Federal Aviation Administration

amends 14 CFR part 73 as follows:

PART 73—SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE

1. The authority citation for part 73

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113,

40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959–

1963 Comp., p. 389.

§ 73.51 [Amended]

2. § 73.51 is amended as follows:

* * * * *

R–5107B White Sands Missile Range,

NM [Amended]

By removing the current ‘‘Using

agency. Deputy for Air Force, White

Sands Missile Range, NM 88002,’’ and

substituting ‘‘Using agency.

Commanding General, White Sands

Missile Range, NM.’’

* * * * *

R–5107J White Sands Missile Range,

NM [Amended]

By removing the current ‘‘Using

agency. Deputy for Air Force, White

Sands Missile Range, NM 88002,’’ and

substituting ‘‘Using agency.

Commanding General, White Sands

Missile Range, NM.’’

* * * * *

R–5111D Elephant Butte, NM

[Amended]

By removing the current ‘‘Using

agency. Deputy for United States Air

Force, White Sands Missile Range, NM

88002,’’ and substituting ‘‘Using agency.

Commanding General, White Sands

Missile Range, NM.’’

* * * * *

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 29,

1997.

Reginald C. Matthews,

Acting Program Director for Air Traffic

Airspace Management.

[FR Doc. 97–29574 Filed 11–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

43 CFR Part 11

RIN 1090–AA21 & 1090–AA23

Natural Resource Damage

Assessments—Type A Procedures

AGENCY: Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Final rule: correcting

amendments.

SUMMARY: On May 7, 1996, the

Department of the Interior published a

final rule establishing two simplified, or

‘‘type A,’’ procedures for assessing

natural resource damages under the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act. 61 FR 20559. Those procedures

incorporated two computer models.

This rule makes several technical

corrections to those models.

DATES: This final rule is effective

November 10, 1997. The incorporation

by reference listed in this rule was

approved by the Director of the Federal

Register and is effective November 10,

1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Rosenberger at (202) 208–3301.

Interested parties may obtain copies of

the computer models and supporting

documentation free of charge from the

Department through February 27, 1998,

and thereafter for a fee from the

National Technical Information Service,

5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA

22161, ph: (703) 487–4650. The models

are also on the Internet at http://

www.doi.gov/oepc/oepcbb.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.)

(CERCLA) provides that certain

categories of persons, known as

potentially responsible parties (PRPs),

are liable for natural resource damages

resulting from a release of a hazardous

substance. CERCLA sec. 107(a). Natural

resource damages are monetary

compensation for injury to, destruction

of, or loss of natural resources. CERCLA

sec. 107(a)(4)(C). Only those Federal,

State, and Indian tribe officials

designated as natural resource trustees

may recover natural resource damages.

CERCLA requires the President to

promulgate regulations for the

assessment of natural resource damages

resulting from hazardous substance

releases. CERCLA sec. 301(c). The

President delegated the responsibility

for promulgating these regulations to the

Department. E.O. 12316, as amended by

E.O. 12580. CERCLA requires that the

natural resource damage assessment

regulations include two types of

assessment procedures. ‘‘Type A’’

procedures are ‘‘standard procedures for

simplified assessments requiring

minimal field observation.’’ CERCLA

sec. 301(c)(2)(A). ‘‘Type B’’ procedures

are ‘‘alternative protocols for conducting

assessments in individual cases.’’

CERCLA sec. 301(c)(2)(B). Both types of

procedures are codified at 43 CFR part

11.

On May 7, 1996, the Department

published a final rule that revised an

existing type A procedure for assessing

natural resource damages from minor

releases in coastal areas and established

an additional type A procedure for

minor releases in the Great Lakes.

Trustees obtain a rebuttable

presumption in litigation for damages,

up to $100,000, calculated in

accordance with those procedures. Both

procedures incorporate computer

models. The type A procedure for

coastal areas incorporates the Natural

Resource Damage Assessment Model for

Coastal and Marine Environments

(NRDAM/CME) and the type A

procedure for Great Lakes incorporates

the Natural Resource Damage

Assessment Model for Great Lakes

Environments (NRDAM/GLE). The

regulations identify the conditions

under which trustees may use the

models. 43 CFR 11.34.

Trustees must supply a number of

data inputs to operate the NRDAM/CME

and the NRDAM/GLE. After trustees

supply the data inputs, the models

themselves perform the remaining

calculations necessary to establish if

there has been an injury, quantify the

extent of injury, estimate the cost of

restoration actions, and value economic

losses.

Programming Errors

The May 7, 1996, rule incorporated

Version 2.4 of the NRDAM/CME and

Version 1.4 of the NRDAM/GLE. Since

the publication of that rule, the

Department has identified six

programming errors in those versions of

the models.

First, the models were designed to

include in the damage figure the cost of
60458 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

restoring lost assimilative capacity,

under certain circumstances. As stated

in the preamble to the May 7, 1996, rule,

the Department intended that the

models would compute assimilative

capacity restoration costs only when

there are releases that generate

economic damages related to mortality

or loss of production. 61 FR at 20599.

The Department has identified a

programming error that, in some cases,

allowed such costs to be incorporated

into the tabulation of damages even

when no economic damages were

generated by the models. Currently, the

models do not provide recovery for

compensable value when the amount

calculated is less than one dollar, but

they still include restoration costs for

lost assimilative capacity when the

amount calculated is greater than zero

but less than one dollar. The

Department intended that compensable

value must actually be generated and

included in the tabulated damages (i.e.,

equal or exceed $1) before restoration

costs for lost assimilative capacity

would be included. The models’ source

codes have been corrected to conform

with that intent.

Second, as stated in the preamble to

the May 7, 1996, rule, the Department

decided to delete all pure metals from

the models’ databases (61 FR 20591).

Nevertheless, the models as issued still

erroneously contained copper, mercury,

and zinc in their databases. The models’

databases have been corrected to

conform with that decision.

Third, the Department has discovered

an error in the NRDAM/CME’s source

code for indexing the sediment grid

array, which causes the model to stop

when it attempts to reference grid cell

‘‘100/100.’’ The model’s source code has

been revised to correct this

programming ‘‘bug.’’

Fourth, the Department has

discovered an error in the source code

of the NRDAM/CME for larval current

transport in the longitudinal direction,

resulting in an erroneous calculation of

the location of larvae within the habitat

grid. The model’s source code has been

revised to correct this programming

‘‘bug.’’

Fifth, the Department has discovered

an error in the habitat grid editor for the

NRDAM/CME. While this error is not in

the model’s source code for

computation of damages, it could permit

the NRDAM/CME’s default habitats to

accidentally be corrupted or lost by a

user’s attempt to output the data to an

‘‘ASCII’’ computer code file. This error

has been corrected.

Sixth, although not a programming

error, the Department has discovered

that a reference cited in Volume I,

Section 4, of the NRDAM/CME

Technical Document was omitted from

the reference list at the end of the

section, and has made the appropriate

correction.

Finally, the Department has

discovered an error in Volume IV, Part

2, Table IV.5.37 of the NRDAM/CME

Technical Document. The table was

erroneously printed twice at pages IV.5–

46 through IV.5–47 and then again at

pages IV.5–48 through IV.5–49. This

typographical error has been corrected

by removing pages IV.5–46 and IV.5–47

and inserting blank pages. Also, the

wildlife abundances for willet, knots,

sanderling, turnstones, plovers (both

general and piping) were incorrectly

listed twice in the April 1996, table. The

second listing of abundances for these

species appearing on page IV.5–49 of

the April 1996, table were those

contained in the public review draft of

the NRDAM/CME. 59 FR 63300. The

Department erroneously failed to delete

those public review draft values when

revised abundance values were added to

the database as a result of public

comments. 61 FR 20588. This resulted

in an overestimate of abundance for

willet, knots, sanderling, turnstones,

plovers (both general and piping); and

an underestimate of their wildlife

nonconsumptive use value contained in

Volume V, Table V.1.8 (wildlife

category 28—Sandpipers, plovers) (See

Volume I—Part 2, Section 8.4 of the

NRDAM/CME Technical Document for

an explination of the derrivation). The

NRDAM/CME’s database has been

revised to correct this error.

Windows Operating System

For the convenience of users of the

NRDAM/CME and NRDAM/GLE

models, the Department has also

changed the software installation

requirements to allow the models to run

under the Windows 95 and Windows

NT operating systems, as well as the

current DOS operating system. This is a

non-substantive change, which does not

require a change to the source codes and

has no effect on the computations

performed by the models.

Modifications to the Models

The Department has developed new

versions of the models, which correct

the programming and data base errors

described above and make the

additional change to allow use of the

models under the Windows 95 and

Windows NT operating systems. This

rule replaces the old versions with the

new versions: NRDAM/CME Version 2.4

is being replaced with NRDAM/CME

Version 2.5, and NRDAM/GLE Version

1.4 is being replaced with NRDAM/GLE

Version 1.5. In order to obtain the

rebuttable presumption, trustees must

now use the new versions of the models.

The Department has also made

conforming changes in the NRDAM/

CME and NRDAM/GLE Technical

Documentation as follows:

NRDAM/CME Technical Documents.

(1) The model version number has been

changed in all places it appears; (2) The

pure metals copper, mercury, and zinc

have been deleted from Volume III,

Table II.2.1; (3) The case example

contained in Volume II, Appendix D,

has been replaced to reflect the revised

version number and source code

corrections; (4) A reference cited in

Volume I, Section 4, has been added to

the reference list at the end of the

section; (5) Volume VI, containing the

source code, has been revised to make

the necessary corrections; and (6)

Volume IV, Part 2 has been revised to

correct the wildlife abundances; and

Volume V, Table V.1.8 revised to correct

the population number and wildlife

nonconsumptive use value for wildlife

category 28—Sandpipers, plovers.

NRDAM/GLE Technical Documents.

(1) The model version number has been

changed in all places it appears; (2) The

pure metals copper, mercury, and zinc

have been deleted from Volume III,

Table II.2.1; (3) The case example

contained in Volume II, Appendix A,

has been replaced to reflect the revised

version number and source code

corrections; (4) A reference cited in

Volume I, Section 4, has been added to

the reference list at the end of the

section; and (5) Volume VI, containing

the source code, has been revised to

make the necessary corrections.

Issuance of a Final Rule

This rule does not modify any

substantive decisions the Department

made in the May 7, 1996 rulemaking.

The technical corrections described in

this notice are necessary to ensure that

NRDAM/CME and NRDAM/GLE

conform to the descriptions and

decisions stated in the May 7, 1996,

preamble and in the supporting

technical documentation for the models.

The additional changes are also nonsubstantive in nature. Therefore, the

Department finds that there is good

cause under section 553(b)(3)(b) of the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

551 et seq.) to make these corrections

and changes without first issuing a

notice of proposed rulemaking. For the

same reasons, the Department finds that

there is good cause under section

553(d)(3) of the Administrative

Procedure Act to make this final rule

effective immediately.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 217 / Monday, November 10, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 60459

List of Subjects in 43 CFR Part 11

Coastal zone, Environmental

protection, Fish, Hazardous substances,

Incorporation by reference, Indian

lands, Marine resources, National

forests, National parks, Natural

resources, Public lands, Recreation

areas, Seashores, Wildlife, Wildlife

refuges.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, Title 43, Subtitle A of the

Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as follows:

PART 11—NATURAL RESOURCE

DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS

1. The authority citation for Part 11

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 9651(c), as amended.

Subpart A—Introduction

2. Section 11.18 is amended by

revising paragraphs (a)(4) and (a)(5) to

read as follows:

§ 11.18 Incorporation by reference.

(a) * * *

(4) The CERCLA Type A Natural

Resource Damage Assessment Model for

Coastal and Marine Environments,

Technical Documentation, Volumes I–

VI, dated April 1996, including Revision

I dated October 1997, prepared for the

U.S. Department of the Interior by

Applied Science Associates, Inc., A.T.

Kearney, Inc., and Hagler Bailly

Consulting, Inc. (NRDAM/CME

technical document). Interested parties

may obtain a copy of this document

from the National Technical Information

Service, 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, VA 22161; PB96–501788;

ph: (703) 487–4650. Sections 11.34(a),

(b), and (e), 11.35(a), 11.36(b), 11.40(a),

and 11.42(a), and Appendix II refer to

this document.

(5) The CERCLA Type A Natural

Resource Damage Assessment Model for

Great Lakes Environments, Technical

Documentation, Volumes I–IV, dated

April 1996, including Revision I dated

October 1997, prepared for the U.S.

Department of the Interior by Applied

Science Associates, Inc., and Hagler

Bailly Consulting, Inc. (NRDAM/GLE

technical document). Interested parties

may obtain a copy of this document

from the National Technical Information

Service, 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, VA 22161; PB96–501770;

ph: (703) 487–4650. Sections 11.34 (a),

(b), and (e), 11.35(a), 11.36(b), 11.40(a),

and 11.42(a), and Appendix III refer to

this document.

* * * * *

Subpart C—Assessment Plan Phase

3. Section 11.33(a) is amended by

revising the third sentence to read as

follows:

§ 11.33 What types of assessment

procedures are available?

* * * * *

(a) * * * There are two type A

procedures: a procedure for coastal or

marine environments, which

incorporates the Natural Resource

Damage Assessment Model for Coastal

and Marine Environments, Version 2.5

(NRDAM/CME); and a procedure for

Great Lakes environments, which

incorporates the Natural Resource

Damage Assessment Model for Great

Lakes Environments, Version 1.5

(NRDAM/GLE).

* * * * *

Subpart D—Type A Procedures

4. Section 11.40(a) is amended by

revising the third and fifth sentences to

read as follows:

§ 11.40 What are type A procedures?

(a) * * * The type A procedure for

coastal and marine environments

incorporates a computer model called

the Natural Resource Damage

Assessment Model for Coastal and

Marine Environments Version 2.5

(NRDAM/CME). * * * The type A

procedure for Great Lakes environments

incorporates a computer model called

the Natural Resource Damage

Assessment Model for Great Lakes

Environments Version 1.5 (NRDAM/

GLE). * * *

* * * * *

Dated: October 31, 1997.

Brooks B. Yeager,

Acting Assistant Secretary—Policy,

Management, and Budget.

[FR Doc. 97–29386 Filed 11–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–RG–P