- We respond to pollution that poses threats to marine resources and coastal habitats. We collect scientific data to determine if natural resources have been injured and then assess the injury.
- We determine how the public’s use of beaches, fishing areas, and other recreational activities is disrupted after a pollution event or ship grounding.
What We Do
We conduct Natural Resource Damage Assessments to assess and restore natural resources after oil spills, ship groundings, and hazardous releases. Learn about this process—what triggers it, who performs it, and what the outcomes are.
DARRP Accomplishment Outreach
- NOAA Ocean Podcast: Restoration: Replacing What Was Lost
- NOAA Video Message: Working Together to Restore Polluted Waterways
- National Ocean Service Web Story 2021: Over $130 Million to Restore 10 Polluted Waterways Across the Country
- ArcGIS Story Map: NOAA's Damage Assessment, Remediation, or Restoration Program, Learn About Our Work in Your State
Restoration Success Stories
- More Than 30 Acres of New Reef Habitat Built Off the Southern California Coast
- Three Partner-Driven Projects Restoring Polluted California Habitats
- Tidal Flow Restored to 353 Acres at Blue Heron Slough in Western Washington State
- To Restore Gulf Fish, Shrimpers Test Better Gear for Reducing Bycatch
- Rescued from Deepwater Horizon, a Resilient Native Returns to Queen Bess Island
- Habitat Restoration Supports Jobs, Stewardship
- Preserving 1,700 Acres of Habitat to Increase Cape Fear River Basin Resiliency
- Restoring the Gulf: 10 Years After Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
- Restoration for the Rising Tide
- Story Map: Refugio Beach Oil Spill: Mapping NOAA's Work from Response to Restoration
- Blowing up Bloede Dam: Patapsco River Resumes Natural Course for First Time in 112 Years
- Oyster Reefs Breathe New Life into Virginia’s Elizabeth River
- Video: A River Reborn: Restoring Salmon Habitat along the Duwamish River
- Video: Renewed Passage: Buzzards Bay to the Acushnet River
- 30 Years of West Coast Salmon Restoration: By the Numbers
- 14 Projects Approved to Restore Parts of the Kalamazoo River
- 30 Years of Restoring Waterways After Pollution
- Restoring Rivers to Reverse Impacts from Pollution
Quick Links
Evaluate Environmental Harm
Implement Restoration
- We develop restoration plans that address natural resource injuries and losses, with input from the public.
- We use funds recovered from the responsible parties to restore the resources and habitats that were harmed.
- We also undertake projects—such as constructing or improving boat ramps, fishing piers, and beach trails—to compensate for lost recreational uses.
Explore Cases
This interactive map displays the locations of oil spills, hazardous waste sites, or ship groundings where we are currently pursuing protection and restoration of natural resources.
Make the Polluters Pay
- We work collaboratively with our federal, state, and tribal partners to hold responsible parties accountable for injuries to natural resources.
- Through settlement or litigation, we seek to recover the funds needed to restore injured resources and compensate the public.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment
Learn how we use the Natural Resource Damages Assessment process to restore impacts from pollution along our nation’s coasts and Great Lakes.
NOAA is a steward, or "trustee," Government official acting on behalf of the public when there is injury to, destruction of, loss of, or threat to natural resources. for the nation’s coastal and marine resources. We act on behalf of the public to protect and restore natural resources harmed by oil spills, releases of hazardous waste, and, in some instances, vessel groundings.
