Background

The "NRD Industry/Trustee Standing Committee" was established by the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group in 1999 in order to provide a focal point and a clearinghouse for communications between the industrial community and government departments and agencies on NRD liability (as defined under CERCLA, the Oil Pollution Act and other laws) and related assessment and restoration issues. The Standing Committee meets semi-annually in Washington, DC and via web and has undertaken a number of joint projects and activities of mutual interest in an effort to encourage practice advancements.

Participants in the Committee include a subset of the industrial company members of the multi-sector Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group. On an invited basis, representatives of five Federal natural resource trustee Departments (Agriculture, Commerce/NOAA, Defense, Energy, Interior), representatives from state trustee and tribal communities, as well as US Environmental Protection Agency from time to time, participate. Also on an invited basis, five major business/industry associations (American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, National Mining Association, US Chamber of Commerce) participate.

The Committee provides a mechanism for ongoing dialogue and practice exchange on NRD and allied issues, including remediation of hazardous waste sites, oil spill cleanup, emergency response, prevention, risk assessment, resource restoration and more, as well as a forum for identifying and undertaking cooperative projects and activities, as appropriate, including development of databases, documents and other resources.