“The National Oil Spill Commission today is releasing four new draft working papers prepared by its staff. Commission staff prepares draft working papers to inform the Commissioners’ on-going examination of the root causes of the Gulf spill and options to guard against and mitigate the impacts of future spills. The Commissioners’ decisions regarding these matters will be contained in the Commission’s final report, expected to be issued on Jan. 11, 2011. Topics of the attached staff draft working papers are:

• Decision-Making within the Unified Command
• The Amount and Fate of the Oil
• The Use of Surface and Subsea Dispersants during the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• The Challenges of Oil Spill Response in the Arctic