A One-of-a-Kind National Symposium
Join Industrial Companies like Chevron, 3M, BP, GE and many others, George Washington University's Regulatory Studies Center, and key public and private sector leaders and practitioners for this one-of-a-kind national forum. The Symposium, last held in 2009, focuses on multi-stakeholder examination of "real time" natural resource damage (NRD) policies and practices -- prevention, liability determination, scientific and economic assessment approaches, restoration strategy and more.
Companies that are up to date on how other companies and government officials are approaching and resolving NRD liability are best equipped to resolve their own liability more quickly and cost-effectively, simultaneously maximizing corporate objectives and responding to restoration interests and priorities in the subject location.
Learning from Deepwater Horizon
The Deepwater Horizon Incident has brought the term "Natural Resource Damage Assessment" or "NRDA" into the media mainstream and public lingo. NRD is the broad liability regime defined by statute. An NRDA is the process to assess the extent of injury to a natural resource and determine appropriate ways to restore and compensate the public for that injury. Typically, an NRDA may be undertaken following an oil spill, as well as in certain circumstances where there has been a release of hazardous waste or oil.
For the industrial company members of the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group, the NRDA term has been "front, line and center" since the Group was founded in 1988. The Group was established to enable ongoing communication among companies that were, or might become, the subject of NRD actions under US federal, state and local laws. Today, the Group operates with a much broader set of objectives. The Deepwater Horizon is continuing to provide a focal point for evaluating best practices related to NRD -- and there are many hundreds of other active sites nationwide.
The Group's Role as Resource, Educator, Catalyst and Facilitator
For over 20 years, the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Damage Group, comprised of major industrial companies in all sectors, has been a strong and consistent voice for industry on NRD and related matters, earning the respect of key government officials and other stakeholders in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Given the Group's singular focus on environmental liability and related matters and its program covering natural resource liability, assessment and restoration issues worldwide, the Group provides exceptional support to its industrial company members and its scientific, legal and other expert Affiliates, works in partnership with a diverse set of individuals and organizations within industry and government, and works to foster practice exchange and advancements in the state-of-the-art. The Group has been at the forefront in providing tools to companies to enable them to effectively manage potential risks and accompanying liabilities, as well as identifying opportunities for cooperative industry/government working relationships, corporate responsibility action and innovative settlement and restoration solutions.
NRD Liability: Not Always an Open and Shut Case
Companies that are (or have been) generators, transporters or disposers of hazardous waste or whose operations have (or may in the future) result in the release of oil, or oil spills, need to be on top of the still-emerging NRD practice arena -- fast changing from a US-only liability focus to a more global orientation. In today's complex world, accidents will happen and natural resources (fish, wildlife, biota, air, water, groundwater, drinking water supplies) -- and the services they provide to the public -- may be affected. In the US, thousands of sites nationwide continue to have the potential for NRD claims under a variety of federal and/or state laws. Companies need to remain vigilant in their preparedness on an ongoing basis in order to effectively address NRD liability issues if and when they arise.
What to Expect at the Symposium
The Symposium provides the opportunity to look at a set of core issues that are present in today's NRDA practice. Attendees will take away pragmatic information that can be applied at specific sites, as well as help identify areas of research and other needed initiatives by private industry, government, the academic community and others.
This Symposium (the eighth such program sponsored by the Group since 1999) will provide a glimpse into the wide range of disciplines and perspectives that bear upon successful implementation of liability, assessment and restoration policies and practices. The program theme -- "Coming of Age: Time to Set Expectations for Performance, Professional Standards and Best Practices" -- will explore a variety of ways to approach and manage NRD liability and restoration, including some recent "outside the box" site examples. Given the maturation of the NRD practice arena and current and ongoing cases nationwide that bring to the forefront a variety of both resolved and unresolved practice issues, the Symposium will consider whether it is time to set and/or retool expectations for performance, professional standards and best practices.
Discussions will range from lessons learned, to novel ways to identify and undertake assessment and restoration, to specific take-away strategies for companies and practitioners, to "food for thought" for project managers, top level decision makers and others.
An Incredible Assemblage of Brilliant Practitioners and Icons
Come hear the best and brightest of the country's policy and decision makers, as well as persons working in the trenches, describe the latest developments, trends and practices that can be applied to specific sites to suit different needs and priorities. Originally convened as "by industry for industry" events, the Group's Symposia provided a mechanism for the Group to share its extensive knowledge and experience on NRD-related matters with the broader industrial community. Starting in 2003, the Symposium was expanded to include, in additional to the broad industrial community, participation by numerous other NRD stakeholder groups, including Federal, State and Tribal Trustees, research and conservation organizations and others, thus permitting dialogue and practice exchange among the full spectrum of interested parties.
Symposium speakers will represent numerous disciplines interfacing with the NRDA and restoration practice field, including law, science, economics and more. Representatives of federal and state government departments/agencies, tribes, industrial companies and associations, research and conservation organizations, law firms, consulting firms, universities and others have been invited to participate in the Symposium.
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