15 CFR §990.41

1. (a)Determination of jurisdiction. Upon learning of an incident, trustees must determine whether there is jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA. To make this determination, trustees must decide if:
   1. (1)An incident has occurred, as defined in § 990.30 of this part;
   2. (2)The incident is not:
      1. (i)Permitted under a permit issued under federal, state, or local law; or
      2. (ii)From a public vessel; or
      3. (iii)From an onshore facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651, et seq.; and
   3. (3)Natural resources under the trusteeship of the trustee may have been, or may be, injured as a result of the incident.
2. (b)Proceeding with preassessment. If the conditions listed in paragraph (a) of this section are met, trustees may proceed under this part. If one of the conditions is not met, trustees may not take additional action under this part, except action to finalize this determination. Trustees may recover all reasonable assessment costs incurred up to this point provided that conditions in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section were met and actions were taken with the reasonable belief that natural resources or services under their trusteeship might have been injured as a result of the incident.