PUBLIC LAW 96-510—DEC. 11, 1980
94 STAT. 2791
injured parties. Until the promulgation of such rules and regulations, the owner and operator of any vessel or facility from which a hazardous substance has been releeised shall provide reasonable notice to potential injured parties by publication in local newspapers serving the affected area. (h)(1) In accordance with regulations promulgated under section 301(c) of this Act, damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources resulting from a release of a hazardous substance, for the purposes of this Act and section 311(f)(4) and (5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, shall be assessed by Federal officials ^^ USC 1321. designated by the President under the national contingency plan published under section 105 of the Act, and such officials shall act for the President as trustee under this section and section 311(f)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. (2) Any determination or assessment of damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources for the purposes of this Act and section 311(f)(4) and (5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act shall have the force and effect of a rebuttable presumption on behalf of any claimant (including a trustee under section 107 of this Act or a Federal agency) in any judicial or adjudicatory administrative proceeding under this Act or section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. (i) Except in a situation requiring action to avoid an irreversible loss of natural resources or to prevent or reduce any continuing danger to natural resources or similar need for emergency action, funds may not be used under this Act for the restoration, rehabilitation, or replacement or acquisition of the equivalent of any natural resources until a plan for the use of such funds for such purposes has been developed and adopted by affected Federal agencies and the Governor or Governors of any State having sustained damage to natural resources within its borders, belonging to, managed by or appertaining to such State, after adequate public notice and opportunity for hearing and consideration of all public comment. (j) The President shall use the money in the Post-closure Liability Fund for any of the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this section with respect to a hazardous waste disposal facility for which liability has transferred to such fund under section 107(k) of this Act, and, in addition, for payment of any claim or appropriate request for costs of response, damages, or other compensation for injury or loss under section 107 of this Act or any other State or Federal law, resulting from a release of a hazardous substance from such a facility. (k) The Inspector General of each department or agency to which responsibility to obligate money in the Fund is delegated shall Report to provide an audit review team to audit all payments, obligations, Congress. reimbursements, or other uses of the Fund, to assure that the Fund is being properly administered and that claims are being appropriately and expeditiously considered. Each such Inspector General shall submit to the Congress an interim report one year after the establishment of the Fund and a final report two years after the establishment of the Fund. Each such Inspector General shall thereafter provide such auditing of the Fund as is appropriate. Each Federal agency shall cooperate with the Inspector General in carrying out this subsection. (1) To the extent that the provisions of this Act permit, a foreign claimant may assert a claim to the same extent that a United States claimant may assert a claim if—
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