Public Review Draft Dear Reviewer: We have prepared this draft Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan

and Restoration Strategy in response to the spilling of approximately eleven million gallons of crude oil that resulted from the March 24, 1989, grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound. The document describes the studies necessary to determine the extent and magnitude of injury to natural resources of Prince William Sound and the adjacent Gulf of Alaska. The studies to assess injury are designed to support: 1) the development of restoration plans to promote the long-term recovery of natural resources, and 2) the determination of damages to be claimed for the loss of services of the natural resources. The plan was prepared through the cooperation of the State of Alaska, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the National oceanic and ~tmospheric ~dministration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the general provisions of the Clean Water Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The draft plan is provided for public review. In your review, please keep in mind that the plan is focused on those studies necessary to determine injury to natural resources and to determine damages resulting from the loss of public use of those resources, and on the strategy for restoration of natural resources. While related long-term research may be desirable and may build on the studies in the plan, it falls outside the scope and intent of the plan. Your comments must be received by September 30, 1989, at the following address