NRD Recovery Under CERCLA and OPA: What to Expect in 2018

NRD recovery involves assessing and litigating multi-million dollar claims for alleged injuries to natural resources – water, sediments, soils, air and animals – resulting from releases of hazardous substances or oil. The NRD assessment process and claims are technically and legally complex, often invoking multiple difficult temporal, causation, source-identification, and evidentiary issues.

The transition of federal environmental policy under the Trump Administration likely will affect actions from federal trustees in 2018, and state and tribal trustees may change as a result of these adjustments in policy and regulatory reform as well.

Federal transition presents challenges and opportunities for trustees, federal, state and tribal, as well as for potentially responsible parties. Counsel must prepare for changes in the way trustees manage the natural resource damages assessment process and civil claims.

Listen as our panel of environmental attorneys guides you through deregulatory initiatives by the current administration and the affects on environmental protection and governance. The panel will focus on the priorities of the administration and regulatory reform as applied to NRD claims and suits under CERCLA and OPA.

1. What to expect from the federal trustees in the near future
2. States approaches to NRD claims and litigation
3. Use of NRD litigation to remediate environmental damage

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• How might federal trustees approach NRD assessment, claims, settlement and litigation in 2018?
• Under what circumstances may state or tribal trustees take the lead in pursuing NRD claims?
• What is the anticipated impact on NRD assessment and litigation as processes for achieving natural resource restoration objectives?
• What is the potential impact of these changes on prospects and terms of resolution for NRD claims?