Unued Suues Office of W.ter _ . _ r.nfU'i October, Environmental Protection ^JW) Atocv — — ' Fact Sheet Guidelines for Deriving Site-Specific Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms AUTHORITY Sediment quality criteria are published pursuant to Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act and may form the basis for enforceable standards if adopted by a State into water quality standards The criteria reflect the latest scientific knowledge on the concentration of a nomomc organic contaminant that EPA has determined causes or has the potential to cause adverse effects on benthic organisms. They are developed using an approach described in the "Technical Basis for Deriving Sediment Quality Criteria for Nomomc Organic Contaminants for the Protection of Benthic Organisms by using Equilibrium Partitioning" (EPA-822-R-93-011). Under Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act States may opt to develop site specific criteria Replacement of national criteria with site-specific criteria may be necessary if (1) species at the site are more or less sensitive than those included in the national criteria data set or (2) the sediment or chemical quality characteristics at that site alter the bioavailabihty and consequently the toxicity of the sediment bound chemical predicted by Equilibrium Partitioning (EqP). AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENT Copies of the guidelines document, and other referenced documents, may be obtained from the address below. Guidelines for Deriving Site-Specific Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms, EPA-822-R-017 Wafer Resource Center, (RC-4100) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 401 M Street, S. W. Washington, D.C., 20460 For further information please contact: Ms. Mary C. Reiley U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water Ecological Risk Assessment Branch (4304) 401 M Street, SW Washington, DC 20460 ------- |