Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy; Notice ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed

and is requesting public comments on a comprehensive, multimedia

Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy. The proposed Strategy

describes specific actions that EPA will take to reduce environmental

and human health risks associated with contaminated sediment. The

Strategy does not propose new regulation. EPA is acting, under existing

statutory and regulatory authority, to implement policies to

consistently assess, prevent, and remediate contaminated sediment.

Because the proposed Strategy is a unique plan of action developed to

address a significant national environmental problem, and to streamline

decision-making within and among EPA programs, the Agency is taking the

unusual step of requesting public comment on this internal EPA work

plan.

DATES: Written comments must be postmarked or submitted by hand on or

before October 31, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of EPA's Contaminated Sediment

Management Strategy (EPA document number EPA 823-R-94-001) should be

sent to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for

Environmental Publications and Information, 11029 Kenwood Road,

Building 5, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242; telephone: 513-891-6561, fax: 513-

891-6685. The proposed Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy and

the administrative record for its development are available for public

inspection and copying during normal business hours at the Water

Docket, Room L-102 (basement) Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. Docket materials include: the

proposed Strategy, all public comments received on the Strategy as well

as those received on an earlier proposal for discussion, and the

proceedings of three national public forums held to discuss development

of the Strategy. For an appointment to see Docket materials, call 202-

260-3027 between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. As provided in 40 CFR Part 2, a

reasonable fee may be charged for copying services.

Comments may be mailed or delivered to: Contaminated Sediment

Management Strategy Comment Clerk, Water Docket MC-4101, Room L102,

Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20460. Commenters are requested to submit an original and 3 copies of

their written comments and enclosures. Commenters who want receipt of

their comments acknowledged should include a self addressed, stamped

envelope. No facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas M. Armitage, Risk Assessment

and Management Branch, Office of Science and Technology, Mail Code

4305, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460, Telephone: 202-260-

7049.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA's Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy--Reinventing

Government to Streamline Decision-Making

Contaminated sediment poses ecological and human health risks in

many watersheds throughout the United States. In these watersheds,

sediment serves as a contaminant reservoir from which fish and bottom

dwelling organisms can accumulate toxic compounds and pass them up the

food chain. Sediment contaminants can be passed to larger fish, birds,

and mammals until they accumulate to levels that may be toxic to

humans. Toxic chemicals in sediment come from discharges of industrial

waste and sewage; stormwater runoff from waste dumps, city streets and

farms, and air pollutants contained in rainwater. The magnitude of the

toxics problem in the United States is evidenced in more than 1,200

State advisories that have been issued against consuming fish that have

accumulated toxic bioaccumulative contaminants from sediment and other

sources.

More than ten Federal statutes provide authority to many EPA

program offices to address the problem of contaminated sediment. This

has resulted in fragmented, and in some cases duplicative, efforts to

complete the necessary research, technology development, and pollution

control activities required to effectively manage contaminated

sediment. Often it has been difficult for EPA programs to agree upon

the fundamental question of whether sediment at a particular site poses

ecological or human health risks. EPA's proposed Contaminated Sediment

Management Strategy was developed to streamline decision-making within

and among the Agency's program offices by promoting and ensuring: the

use of consistent sediment assessment practices, consistent

consideration of risks posed by contaminated sediment, the use of

consistent approaches to management of contaminated sediment risks, and

the wise use of scarce resources for research and technology

development.

Goals of the Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy

EPA's proposed Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy describes

actions that the Agency will take to accomplish the following four

strategic goals: (1) Prevent further sediment contamination that may

cause unacceptable ecological or human health risks; (2) When

practical, clean up existing sediment contamination that adversely

affects the Nation's waterbodies or their uses, or that causes other

significant effects on human health or the environment; (3) Ensure that

sediment dredging and dredged material disposal continue to be managed

in an environmentally sound manner; (4) develop and consistently apply

methodologies for analyzing contaminated sediments.

What the Strategy Does

The proposed Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy is comprised

of six component sections: assessment, prevention, remediation, dredged

material management, research, and outreach. In each section, EPA

describes actions that the Agency will take to accomplish the four

broad strategic goals.

In the assessment section of the Strategy EPA proposes that Agency

program offices all use standard sediment toxicity test methods and

chemical-specific sediment quality criteria to determine whether

sediments are contaminated. Actions that EPA will take to develop a

national inventory of sites and sources of sediment contamination (the

National Sediment Inventory) are described in the assessment section of

the proposed Strategy. The National Sediment Inventory will be used by

EPA to target sites for contaminated sediment assessment, prevention,

and remediation. These assessment actions will enable EPA to focus on

cleaning up the most contaminated waterbodies, and ensuring that

further sediment contamination is prevented.

EPA's plan to stop sediment contaminants from reaching the

environment is described in the prevention section of the proposed

Strategy. In order to regulate the use of pesticides and toxic

substances that accumulate in sediment, EPA proposes the use of acute

sediment toxicity tests to support registration of chemicals under the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Toxic

Substances Control Act. In the prevention section of the Strategy EPA

also proposes: developing effluent guidelines for industries that

discharge sediment contaminants in significant amounts; using pollution

prevention policies to reduce or eliminate sediment contamination

resulting from noncompliance with permits; preparing guidelines for

design of new chemicals to reduce bioavailability and partitioning of

toxic chemicals to sediment; and implementing point and nonpoint source

controls that will protect sediment quality. EPA's prevention actions

will stop further contamination of sediment and reduce ecological and

human health risks.

In the remediation section of the Strategy EPA proposes using

multiple statutes to require contaminated sediment remediation by

parties responsible for pollution. These statutes include the

Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

(CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean

Water Act (CWA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Rivers

and Harbors Act, and the Oil Pollution Act. EPA states in the proposed

Strategy, however, that the Agency will not proceed with a clean-up if

a combination of pollution prevention and source controls will allow

the sediments to recover naturally in an acceptable period of time.

EPA's remediation actions will clean up existing sediment contamination

that adversely affects the Nation's waterbodies.

In the dredged material management section of the proposed

Strategy, EPA discusses the development of technical guidance regarding

dredged material testing, dredged material disposal site selection, and

disposal alternatives. EPA actions described in the proposed Strategy

will ensure continued disposal of dredged material in an

environmentally sound manner.

In the research section of the Strategy, EPA proposes a program of

investigative research that is needed to: develop and validate new

chemical-specific sediment criteria and other sediment assessment

methods; improve EPA's understanding of the transfer of sediment

contaminants through the food chain; and develop and evaluate a range

of technologies for remediating contaminated sediments. EPA's proposed

research program will support improved assessment, prevention, and

remediation of contaminated sediment.

The outreach section of the proposed Strategy describes actions

that EPA will take to demonstrate, through public involvement, the

Agency's commitment to, and accountability for, sediment management

efforts. EPA will produce, and make available to the public, regular

status reports on sediment management activities.

Next Steps Toward Implementation of a Federal Agency Contaminated

Sediment Management Strategy

EPA will begin to track activities of the Agency's program offices

as they implement the Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy.

However, EPA envisions that this internal strategy will also be the

keystone of a much larger Federal Government strategy for the

management of contaminated sediment. The Water Resources Development

Act of 1992 (WRDA 92) requires a National Contaminated Sediment Task

Force to advise the Federal Government on the extent and severity of

sediment contamination; sediment restoration methods and technologies;

prevention and source control measures; and long-term disposal sites

for contaminated dredged material. The EPA Administrator and the

Secretary of the Army will convene the Task Force and submit the

Agency's Strategy to the Task Force for use in developing a Federal

agency contaminated sediment management strategy. The Task Force can

build upon EPA's coordinated research program, the research of the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other Federal

agencies to improve methodologies for measuring ecological and human

health risks from contaminated sediment.

EPA's National Sediment Inventory is a repository of sediment

monitoring data generated by Federal agencies to identify contaminated

sediment sites. This data base can be used by Federal, State, and local

agencies to focus their pollution prevention and remediation efforts on

the worst sites of sediment contamination.

EPA's Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy addresses

coordination of EPA Regional and Headquarters roles in the management

of dredged material, and describes ongoing regulatory development

activities related to dredged material management.

The Strategy will help facilitate the coordination of dredged

material management activities among Federal agencies and

nongovernmental organizations. Coordination of dredged material

management activities has been called for in the May 1994 options paper

drafted by the Federal Interagency Working Group on the Dredging

Process. The Working Group was convened by the Secretary of

Transportation in the Fall of 1993. The Group has held a series of

outreach sessions throughout the country to solicit ideas on improving

the dredging process. The Working Group identified a number of options

to improve the dredging process. Some of these options include:

enhanced research and monitoring to improve dredged material disposal

decisionmaking, identification of opportunities to control sources of

sediment contaminants, and effective education and communication with

the public on the risks and impacts associated with dredged material

disposal. The proposed Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy

addresses all of these issues. It describes a plan for research on

interpretation of bioaccumulation and chronic toxicity tests and

dredged material disposal site assessment. It provides a plan for

identification and control of sources of sediment contaminants. It also

proposes effective ways of interacting with the public.

Listing of Actions Identified in EPA's Contaminated Sediment

Management Strategy

EPA's Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy proposes that

Agency program offices take the following actions.

Assessment

All EPA program offices will use standard sediment testing methods

to determine whether sediments are contaminated. The Office of Water

will use standard sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation test methods

for monitoring, interpretation of narrative water quality standards,

and dredged material disposal testing. The Office of Pesticide Programs

and the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics will use standard

sediment toxicity tests to assess the toxicity of pesticides and

chemicals when registering or reregistering these chemicals for

manufacture and use. The Office of Emergency and Remedial Response will

use standard sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation test methods for

Superfund Remedial Investigation/Feasibility studies. The Office of

Solid Waste will use biological sediment toxicity test methods for

assessing and monitoring hazardous waste facilities.

To date, EPA program offices have not yet detailed how they will

use sediment quality criteria. This information will be documented in a

Sediment Quality Criteria User's Guide which is currently under

development. The general decisions on how criteria will be used are

described in the Strategy. All EPA programs conducting sediment

monitoring can use the criteria to interpret sediment chemistry data.

Upon promulgation, the criteria can be adopted as State water quality

standards and used to set National Pollution Discharge Elimination

System (NPDES) permit limits. The criteria can also be used with other

information to make site-specific decisions concerning corrective

action at hazardous waste facilities, and to assess Superfund sites.

The criteria can also be used to evaluate dredged material suitability

for disposal in open water. As soon as EPA's Sediment Quality Criteria

User's Manual is drafted, it will be noticed in the Federal Register

for public review and comment. In the interim, the Contaminated

Sediment Management Strategy will be implemented using the standardized

biological assessment methods already available for the program

offices.

The National Sediment Inventory will be used by EPA program offices

as an assessment tool. The inventory will be used to: identify

contaminated sediment sites for consideration for remedial action;

target facilities for possible injunctive relief or supplemental

enforcement projects; identify problem pesticides and toxic substances

that may require further regulation or be targeted for enforcement

action; identify impaired waters for National Water Quality Inventory

reports or development of Total Maximum Daily Loads; target watersheds

for nonpoint source management practices; and to help select industries

for effluent guidelines development.

Prevention

In order to regulate the use of pesticides that may accumulate to

toxic levels in sediment, EPA intends to propose that acute sediment

toxicity tests be included in procedures required to support

registration, reregistration, and special review of pesticides likely

to sorb to sediment. In fiscal year 1995, EPA will propose

incorporating acute toxicity bioassays and spiking protocols into the

Agency's pesticide assessment guidelines (40 CFR Part 158). To prevent

other toxic substances from accumulating in sediment, EPA will also

propose incorporating acute sediment toxicity tests and sediment

bioaccumulation tests into routine chemical review processes required

under the Toxic Substances Control Act. In addition, EPA intends to

call for the development of EPA guidelines for design of new chemicals

to reduce bioavailability and partitioning of toxic chemicals to

sediment.

EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance will take

action to prevent sediment contamination by negotiating, in cases of

noncompliance with permits, enforceable settlement agreements to

require source recycling and source reduction activities. The Office of

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance will also monitor the progress of

Federal facilities toward the goal of halving toxic emissions by the

year 1999, and will monitor the reporting of toxic releases to the

public.

EPA's Office of Water, and other EPA program offices, will work

with nongovernmental organizations and the States to prevent point and

nonpoint source contaminants from accumulating in sediments. EPA will:

(1) promulgate new and revised best available technology effluent

guidelines for industries that discharge sediment contaminants in

significant amounts; (2) encourage the States to use biological

sediment test methods to interpret water quality standards, and to

adopt sediment quality criteria as water quality standards; (3)

encourage the States to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads for impaired

watersheds specifying point and nonpoint source load reductions

necessary to protect sediment quality; (4) use the National Sediment

Inventory to target active point sources of sediment contaminants for

permit compliance tracking, (5) ensure that discharges from CERCLA

sites and RCRA facilities subject to NPDES permits comply with permit

requirements that protect sediment quality; (6) use the National

Sediment Inventory to target watersheds where technical assistance and

grants would effectively be used to reduce nonpoint source loads of

sediment contaminants.

Remediation

The National Sediment Inventory will be used by EPA's Office of

Water, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Office of Solid

Waste, and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to help

target sites for enforcement action requiring contaminated sediment

remediation. EPA's standard sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation tests

will be used to identify sites for remediation, assist in determining

clean-up goals for contaminated sites, and to monitor the effectiveness

of remedial actions.

Dredged Material Management

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that a small percentage

of the total volume of sediment dredged for navigational channel

maintenance requires special handling due to the presence of toxics.

The National Sediment Inventory will be used to identify sites where

dredged material may be contaminated. EPA standard sediment toxicity

and bioaccumulation tests are now used in dredged material testing.

Research

EPA's Office of Research and Development, through its Environmental

Monitoring and Assessment Program, will continue to collect new

chemical and biological data on sediment quality. These data will be

included in the Agency's National Sediment Inventory. EPA's Office of

Research and Development will also develop: new biological methods to

assess the ecological and human health effects of sediment

contaminants, chemical-specific sediment quality criteria, methods to

conduct sediment toxicity identification evaluations, dredged material

disposal fate and transport models, sediment wasteload allocation

models, and technologies for remediation of contaminated sediment.

Outreach

EPA will undertake a program of outreach and technology transfer to

educate target audiences about contaminated sediment risk management.

Target audiences will include: other Federal agencies, State and Local

agencies, the regulated community, the scientific community,

environmental advocacy groups, the news media, and the general public.

Technical and nontechnical information will be provided to these

audiences by developing a range of outreach products. The National

Contaminated Sediment Task Force will develop Federal recommendations

on contaminated sediment that will also be included in outreach

materials.

Dated: August 22, 1994.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-21369 Filed 8-29-94; 8:45 am]

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