NPR:
A law passed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill requires the government to assess the biological damage from big spills so fines can be fixed and damage paid for. The National Academy of Sciences has a report describing the methods and metrics of determining the "ecosystem services" that have been lost due to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In some ways, ecosystem services valuation is a rose under a different name (here is the ecosystem valuation website). Stephen Polasky is the only economist interviewed along with other "environmental scientists." My guess is that the NAS approach is much more interdisciplinary than the Exxon Valdez study. NPR says the final NRDA recommendations will be released in a year with payout to follow. Here is the podcast (on my computer it says "loading media player" and then it :
