resources relied upon for food). The regulations at 33 C.F.R. Part 136 include general claim 

requirements and requirements specific to lost subsistence use claims.

General Claim Requirements

Claims, including those for lost subsistence use of natural resources, must be: (a) in writing for a 

sum certain (33 C.F.R. §136.105(b)), (b) submitted to the NPFC within three years after the date 

on which the injury and its connection with the incident were reasonably discoverable (33 C.F.R. 

§136.101(a)), and (c) presented first to the RP or guarantor and that claim is denied or not settled 

by payment by any person within 90 days after the date the claim was presented before 

presentment to the Fund (33 U.S.C. § 2713(c)(2);except as noted in 33 C.F.R. §136.103(a)). 

Subsistence Use Loss Claim Requirements

The claims regulations (33 C.F.R. §§136.219-223) provide additional requirements for lost 

subsistence use claims. Specifically, each claim for loss of subsistence use of natural resources 

must: 

1) be for lost subsistence use and submitted by an eligible claimant;

2) identify and describe the actual subsistence use of each specific natural resource for 

which compensation is being claimed;

3) describe how and to what extent the claimant’s subsistence use was affected by injury to 

or loss of each specific natural resource;

4) describe efforts to mitigate the subsistence use loss;

5) be based on the reasonable cost to replace the lost subsistence use of natural resources; 

and

6) be reduced by the amount of all compensation made available to the claimant to 

compensate for the loss, all income which was derived by utilizing the time which 

otherwise would have been used to obtain the subsistence resources, and any avoided 

costs associated with the subsistence activity, such as gas for vehicles or boats, bait, and 

other overhead costs not incurred due to the spill.

NPFC has provided more detail about these claim requirements at: 

http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/Claims/DWH_faqs.asp. 

Claim Submission and Documentation

Your claim, received by the NPFC on 21 September 2011, included the Optional OSLTF Claim 

Form on which you describe that you were unable to catch crabs because the spill sent the crabs 

out to deep water that was closed to fishing; a copy of your claim to the GCCF; affidavits from 

two members of your family that live with you and are listed in your claim as recipients of your 

subsistence catch; a copy of a claim deficiency letter from GCCF dated 15 June 2011 requesting 

further documentation to support your claim; and a copy of your denial letter from the GCCF.

NPFC Determination

The NPFC finds that you have not met your burden of proving a subsistence use loss as defined 

by OPA (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and OPA claims regulations (33 C.F.R. Part 136). Your claim 

is denied because you have not:
1) established that you suffered a loss of subsistence use of natural resources as a result of 

the spill (i.e., you provide no evidence to support your claim that crabs moved out of your 

traditional fishing areas, or that movements claimed were a result of the spill; ); nor

2) explained or documented how you determined your claimed loss of $38,000 (i.e., the 

period of your claimed loss and the actual costs incurred to replace your claimed loss or 

documentation to establish reasonable estimates of replacement costs based on your 

pattern of subsistence use).

Request for Reconsideration

Under OPA, you may ask the NPFC to reconsider this determination. Reconsideration requests 

must be received by the NPFC in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and will be 

based upon the additional factual or legal information that you provide with your request. A 

claim may be reconsidered only once, and written disposition of a reconsideration request 

constitutes final agency action. If the NPFC fails to issue a written decision within 90 days after 

receipt of a request for reconsideration, this determination, at the option of the claimant, shall be 

deemed final agency action. 

Should you choose to request NPFC reconsideration of this determination, please mail the 

request and additional claim information with the appropriate claim number (N10036-1433) to:

Chief (Cn)

National Pollution Funds Center

U.S. Coast Guard, Stop 7100

4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1000

Arlington, VA 20598-7100 

If you have any questions about reconsideration, please feel free to contact the NPFC at the 

above address or by phone at 

 

Sincerely, 

Natural Resource Damage Claims Division

National Pollution Funds Center

U.S. Coast Guard