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Christine Danis and Henry Mayer Introduction The following is an initial review of the issues associated with linking current Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRD/NRDA) regulation and Department of Energy (DOE) site clean up concerns. In particular, we examine elements that the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) Center for Social and Economic Issues will be working on in Year Five. This paper resulted from DOE’s Environmental Management (EM) division request that CRESP, as an independent academic based advisor to the Department, evaluate the issues surrounding potential natural resource claims and damages at DOE sites. Of particular interest are sites that are being considered for near-term transfer from EM to Legacy Management (LM), the Office of Science & Technology (Science), the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), and outside government agencies such as the Department of Interior (DOI) or local economic development organizations. Identifying and possibly quantifying the long-term NRD liability of each of these sites will likely be a key element of any property transfer process. This paper is intended to provide an overview of: DOE’s role as both a NRD Federal Trustee and responsible party; NRD regulations and process, and how they pertain to DOE sites; Existing and potential linkages between EM’s development of remedial site strategies, DOE’s Environmental Health division (EH) and the DOE NRD Steering Committee; Suggested mechanisms for including NRD concerns in site Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) work; The potential costs associated with DOE natural resource damages; The potential application of NRD damage funds; Possible DOE property transfer mechanisms; and, Suggestions for further study.
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