Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration

The U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (NRDAR Program) mission is to restore natural resources injured as a result of oil spills or hazardous substance releases into the environment. In partnership with affected state, tribal and federal trustee agencies, the NRDAR Program conducts damage assessments which are the first step toward resource restoration and used to provide the basis for determining restoration needs that address the public's loss and use of natural resources. 

Once the damages are assessed, the NRDAR Program negotiates legal settlements or takes other legal actions against the responsible parties for the spill or release. Funds from these settlements are then used to restore the injured resources at no expense to the taxpayer.  All actions taken by the NRDAR Program on behalf of citizens of the United States are done with the goal of restoring injured natural resources.