United States Fish and Wildlife Service Resource Protection Act

The term damages means—

(A) compensation for—

(I) the cost of replacing, restoring, or acquiring the equivalent of a system resource; and

(II) the value of any significant loss of use of a system resource, pending—

(aa) restoration or replacement of the system resource; or

(bb) the acquisition of an equivalent resource; or

(ii) the value of a system resource, if the system resource cannot be replaced or restored; and

(B) the cost of any relevant damage assessment carried out pursuant to section 4(c).

The term response cost means the cost of any action carried out by the Secretary—

(A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or loss of, or injury to, a system resource;

(B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk of such destruction, loss, or injury; or

(C) to monitor the ongoing effects of any incident causing such destruction, loss, or injury.

The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.

The term system resource means any living, nonliving, historical, cultural, or archeological resource that is located within the boundaries of—

(A) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System;

(B) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery System; or

(C) any other land managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, including any land managed cooperatively with any other Federal or State agency.

Subject to subsection (c), any individual or entity that destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any system resource, or that causes the Secretary to carry out any action to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or loss of, or injuries or risk to, any system resource, shall be liable to the United States for any response costs or damages resulting from the destruction, loss, or injury.

Any instrumentality (including a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other equipment or mechanism) that destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any system resource, or that causes the Secretary to carry out any action to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or loss of, or injury or risk to, a system resource shall be liable in rem to the United States for any response costs or damages resulting from the destruction, loss, or injury, to the same extent that an individual or entity is liable under subsection (a).

An individual or entity shall not be liable under this section, if the individual or entity can establish that—

(1) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the system resource was caused solely by an act of God or an act of war; or

(A) the individual or entity exercised due care; and

(B) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the system resource was caused solely by an act or omission of a third party, other than an employee or agent of the individual or entity.

The liability established by this section shall be in addition to any other liability arising under Federal or State law.

The Attorney General, on request of the Secretary, may commence a civil action in the United States district court of appropriate jurisdiction against any individual, entity, or instrumentality that may be liable under section 3 for response costs or damages.

Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary, after making a finding described in subparagraph (B), may consider, compromise, and settle a claim for response costs and damages if the claim has not been referred to the Attorney General under subsection (a).

A finding referred to in subparagraph (A) is a finding that—

(i) destruction or loss of, or injury to, a system resource has occurred; or

(ii) such destruction, loss, or injury would occur absent an action by the Secretary to prevent, minimize, or abate the destruction, loss, or injury.

In any case in which the total amount to be recovered in a civil action under subsection (a) may exceed $500,000 (excluding interest), a claim may be compromised and settled under paragraph (1) only with the prior written approval of the Attorney General.

The Secretary may carry out all necessary actions (including making a request to the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief)—

(A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; or

(B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk of such destruction, loss, or injury.

The Secretary may assess and monitor the destruction or loss of, or injury to, any system resource for purposes of paragraph (1).

Any determination or assessment of damage to a system resource carried out under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to judicial review under subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure Act), on the basis of the administrative record developed by the Secretary.

An amount equal to the total amount of the response costs and damages recovered by the Secretary under this Act and any amounts recovered by the Federal Government under any provision of Federal, State, or local law (including regulations) or otherwise as a result of the destruction or loss of, or injury to, any system resource shall be made available to the Secretary, without further appropriation, for use in accordance with subsection (b).

The Secretary may use amounts made available under subsection (a) only, in accordance with applicable law—

(1) to reimburse response costs and damage assessments carried out pursuant to this Act by the Secretary or such other Federal agency as the Secretary determines to be appropriate;

(2) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of a system resource that was destroyed, lost, or injured; or

(3) to monitor and study system resources.

In addition to any other authority to accept donations, the Secretary may accept donations of money or services for expenditure or use to meet expected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and damages.

A donation described in subsection (a) may be expended or used at any time after acceptance of the donation, without further action by Congress.