Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XXIX - Oil Spill Prevention and Response › Chapter 1 - Natural Resource Damage Assessment › Subchapter A - General Provisions › Section XXIX-101 - Declaration and Intent

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The
				  Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator in the Office of the Governor adopts these
				  rules pursuant to the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (OSPRA), Louisiana
				  Revised Statutes, §30:2451 et seq. These rules are applicable in the event
				  that an unauthorized discharge of oil or a substantial threat of an
				  unauthorized discharge of oil to state waters results in injury to natural
				  resources.
B. These rules shall be
				  interpreted and implemented in a manner consistent with federal law. Any
				  conflict between a provision of these rules and the National Oil and Hazardous
				  Substances Pollution Contingency Plan ( 40 C.F.R. Part 300) and/or the Oil Spill
				  Prevention and Response Act (R.S.
				  30:2451 et seq.) should be resolved in favor
				  of the cited authorities. Thus, the coordinator and state natural resource
				  trustees are encouraged to cooperate and coordinate their actions with the
				  federal trustees, and in cooperation with the potentially responsible party, to
				  make the environment and the public whole for injuries resulting from
				  unauthorized discharges by assessing natural resource damages for those
				  injuries, presenting a claim for damages (including the reasonable costs of
				  assessing damages), recovering damages, and developing and implementing a plan
				  for the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, or acquisition of the
				  equivalent of the injured natural resources and services under their
				  trusteeship.
C. The federal
				  trustees are not bound by these rules and have the right to bring separate
				  claims in addition to any claim made by the state trustees. Even though state
				  and federal trustees may bring a separate claim, double recovery is prohibited.
				  The state trustees may bring a claim for natural resource damages pursuant to
				  their authority under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA),  33 U.S.C., §
											2701  et seq., or under OSPRA,
				  R.S. 30:2451 et
				  seq. The state trustees may use the natural resource damage assessment
				  procedures established under this rule or under the rules adopted pursuant to
				  OPA, a combination of procedures drawn from both OPA and OSPRA rules, or under
				  the OSPRA rules. The decision as to which assessment procedures will be used
				  shall be documented in the administrative record. Whether the state trustees
				  use OPA procedures, OSPRA procedures, or a combination of OSPRA and OPA
				  procedures, they will perform the field investigation as described in
				  §117 of this
				  Chapter.
D. In the action to
				  recover natural resource damages, the coordinator, in consultation with the
				  state natural resource trustees, shall make the determination whether to assess
				  natural resource damages and the amount of damages, and such determination
				  shall create a rebuttable presumption of the amount of such damages.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with
					 R.S. 30:2451, et
					 seq.