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As the damage claims process for the Gulf oil spill moves into its second phase -- from issuing emergency payments to considering final claims -- administrator Kenneth Feinberg yesterday unveiled a variety of improvements that he says will increase transparency and offer more options to claimants.

Feinberg said there had been "constructive criticism" about opaque decision-making and poor communications during the emergency payments process and promised to make several changes. (We reported on the lack of transparency on several times, for example on claimants' struggles to get basic information about the status of their claims.)

Yesterday, we published a letter by the Justice Department expressing its concerns about an early draft of Gulf claims chief Kenneth Feinberg's protocol for evaluating final claims. Unlike the emergency payments that Feinberg's operation has offered so far, final claims cover both past and future damages caused by the spill, and claimants who receive them must sign a waiver giving up their right to sue.

Today, Feinberg released the protocol to the public, and you can read it on our document viewer.

The protocol shows that Feinberg has followed some of the Justice Department's advice. For example, the Justice Department called on Feinberg to decide all emergency payments by Dec. 15 and make interim payments -- which will be offered on a quarterly basis under the new system -- available more frequently for claimants who are in financial need. Feinberg has adopted both of these recommendations in his protocol.

Feinberg said in a press conference this morning that his protocol would offer the most favorable terms for compensation of any option available to claimants. "I am determined to be more generous than the courts would be," Feinberg said.

You can read the protocol for yourself, and we will keep you updated as we examine the rules for deciding final claims.

Tomorrow, Gulf claims czar Kenneth Feinberg will release his protocol for evaluating final claims -- the lump sum settlements that are meant to cover all losses from the spill but require claimants to waive their right to sue BP. He will begin reviewing applications for final claims after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Department of Justice has reviewed an early draft of Feinberg's protocol, and on Nov. 19 Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli wrote to Feinberg expressing concerns about the proposed guidelines. He also urged Feinberg to improve his operation's transparency by offering a more detailed explanation of the principles that are used to decide claims. You can read Perrelli's letter, which we've posted in our document viewer.