Editors' Summary: Since its enactment in 1980, lawyers have paid attention mostly to the response authorities and cost recovery sections of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. But there is growing awareness of the power and flexibility of CERCLA's natural resource damage sections, which provide for separate recovery even after cleanup is finished. As with the federal CERCLA, many state "mini-CERCLAs" also have natural resource damage sections, and new awareness of the doctrine's reach could make these a regular enforcement tool.

In this Article, the authors outline the scope of the federal natural resource doctrine and detail the doctrine in current state statutes. A chart lists natural resource damage laws in all 50 states. The authors then describe laws in five specific states and suggest procedures for states to develop better statutes on natural resource damages.