Annual Update to NRD Programs in All 50 States and Puerto Rico Published

The 18th annual edition of the “NRD State Guide” has now been published (click here). For nearly two decades, this Guide has provided companies, private practitioners, government officials, and researchers with a comprehensive overview of the natural resource damages (NRD) programs in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. The overview of each state’s program includes a discussion of applicable statutory authority, principal state agencies, major matters and settlements, contact information, and other important reference material.

The updated Guide includes a detailed description of over 265 major NRD cases from across the country. For this version of the Guide, comprehensive feedback from multiple state agencies was received, over a dozen new major NRD assessments and settlements were added, and numerous other NRD matter summaries were updated.

As explained in the Guide, many states have fairly robust NRD programs. For example, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention & Response has recovered nearly $230 million in NRD since its inception. As another example, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has recovered approximately $80 million in NRD. A third example is Washington State, which has recovered more than $200 million in NRD.

Other states are rapidly expanding their NRD programs. For example, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and several other states have become increasingly active in pursuing NRD claims over the last few years.

In order to update this Guide, we contact state agencies and solicit information regarding their respective NRD programs. Among other items, we attempt to obtain information regarding: (i) the nature and history of the state’s NRD programs; (ii) the number of employees involved and their roles; (iii) the state’s NRD budget; (iv) the damage assessment methodologies frequently used; (v) the state’s legal authority to employ private counsel, if any; (vi) the amounts recovered in past NRD settlements or judgments; (vii) any major pending matters; and (viii) the applicable state statutes, if any.

The NRD State Guide can be viewed here.