Science Services Support: Environmental Damage Compensation Program

Environmental restoration projects are necessary when fish, wildlife, or related habitats are damaged or destroyed. The long-term evaluation and restoration of surface and groundwater quality also sometimes necessitates specific remediation projects. The Environmental Damage Compensation Program administered by Science Services provides funds for some of these efforts.

State law provides several mechanisms by which the DNR can require a remedy for the adverse environmental effects of illegal pollution. When a person violates a state pollution law and causes significant damage to the environment, restoration costs (e.g., physical restoration of site or mitigating changes such as payment for dead fish or wildlife) are sometimes obtained as part of the remedy in an enforcement action.

Litigation from an enforcement action usually produces settlement costs that are applied to restoration projects specific to the damaged area(s). Settlements in lieu of court actions can also result. Money from these settlements is deposited in the Environmental Damage Compensation account. In addition, an annual appropriation supplements the Environmental Damage Compensation account to support environmental restoration projects that are not funded from litigated settlements. The amount of money from litigated settlements varies. Although one of the highest settlements exceeded $200,000, most awards have been substantially lower and most typically are less than $50,000.

An internal agency Manual Code provides procedures for developing and deciding specific restoration projects. Science Services solicits new projects from department staff annually and funds projects on a competitive basis. Staff often use funds fron the Environmental Damage Compensation Program to leverage other resources. More often than not, it is the availability of these monies that allows a project to move forward.

Allowable expenditures include:

• Surface or groundwater monitoring, evaluation, and planning activities required to assess the problem and manage the resource.
• Staffing, travel supplies, and materials costs necessary to evaluate and remedy damage to a resource. In general, expenditures for permanent staff are not reimbursed.
• Fish propagation and distribution costs for restocking and costs for replacement of wildlife and other aquatic life.
• Assessment and modeling work required to develop water quality standards, wasteland allocation, or a restoration plan for damaged resources.
• Selected habitat work to improve the fishery or water quality.
• Public participation and information efforts that help identify water quality and resource management goals for the damaged resource.
• Access acquisition and development related to the restoration of the damaged resource.
• Cost sharing of best management practices, consistent with Wisconsin Fund guidelines (if they will help achieve water quality or resource management objectives).
• Purchase of buffer strips and critical areas and activities which would insure their protection.
• Grants or contracts to local governments, other agencies, or private contractors, consistent with a court order, to perform services on this list of eligible expenditures.

For more information on the Environmental Damage Compensation Program, please contact:
Dreux Watermolen, Program Manager