Research Reports

Our report, Coordination in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Process: Project Planning and Selection, describes some tools that are available to the Deepwater Horizon NRDA trustees during project planning and selection that could help coordinate their activities internally within the NRDA program and with external entities. In particular, it focuses on (1) project screening criteria; (2) strategic frameworks; and (3) joint restoration planning.

“Novel entities” can broadly be defined as “things created and introduced into the environment by human beings that could have disruptive effects on the earth system.” These may include synthetic organic pollutants, radioactive materials, genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, and/or micro-plastics. This report, a background paper prepared for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), presents the results of a process developed to systematically identify novel entities that are relevant to the GEF.

Environmental site hazards at a child care facility may arise from contamination of the air, soil, or water caused by historical uses of the property or nearby activities, which may affect both the outdoor and indoor environment. Identifying and remedying site hazards before a child care facility is licensed and during child care operations is important for limiting harmful exposures to children and staff. Children are especially vulnerable to pollutant exposures because their bodies are developing and because they breathe more air relative to their size than adults.

Minimizing waste generation includes diverting waste streams to reuse and recycling as well as recapturing materials. In devising new approaches for the management of materials and the diversion of wastes under RCRA, federal regulators can draw on their knowledge and years of experience working with particular sectors and materials. In the retail sector, managing discarded and returned consumer aerosol cans can hit the "tripwire" for RCRA ignitability, requiring their management as hazardous waste.

As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a number of different funding processes have been put in place to help restore and recover the Gulf of Mexico. The three main ones are the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA), the RESTORE Act, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF), which together will distribute over $16 billion. Each of these processes has its own objectives, timelines, governance structure, and opportunities for the public to engage.