Resources for NERDT Team Members

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Resources for the Team Members of the New England Regional Dredging Team (NERDT):

Sediment Placement Regulations of U.S. Coastal States and Territories: Towards Regional Sediment Management Implementation

This final report Sediment Placement Regulations of U.S. Coastal States and Territories: Towards Regional Sediment Management Implementation, was developed by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) and Coastal States Organization (CSO) with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR).  This report provides a comparative analysis of federal- and state-level regulations on placing sediment in the coastal zone, with best practices, success stories, and recommendations.

The report includes:

  • National and regional summaries
  • 35 Coastal State and Territory Profiles compiling regulatory information for BUDM and sediment placement. (Available individually on our website)
  • 14 Case Studies highlighting successful approaches that States, Territories, and federal partners have taken to increase BUDM. (Available individually on our website)
  • 60 Recommendations to State, Territory, and federal policymakers, regulators, and managers in the areas of:
    • Policy and regulation,
    • Interagency collaboration,
    • Funding,
    • Project development, and
    • Research needs.

This report is designed to inform coastal managers on best practices to better manage coastal sediment in their jurisdictions, increase BUDM, and catalyze systemic changes that promote comprehensive regional sediment management. It compiles lessons learned from nearly 50 subject matter expert interviews and 7 regional workshops held across 2022, that brought together 250+ state and federal coastal managers and regulators and 25 presentations on BUDM success stories.

Public Webinar for the Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

On June 1, 2020, the EPA finalized the “Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule” to implement the water quality certification process consistent with the text and structure of the CWA. On June 17, 2020, the EPA hosted a public webinar to help explain the key elements of the final rule. The webinar slides and recording can be accessed by selecting the links from the CWA Section 401 Certification page on the EPA website.

Why Confined Aquatic Disposal Cells Often Make Sense

Article by Tom Fredette, 2005; Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management — Volume 2, Number 1—pp. 35–38
ABSTRACT
Confined aquatic disposal (CAD) cells are increasingly becoming the selected option for the management of unacceptably contaminated sediments. CAD cells are selected as the preferred alternative because this approach provides an acceptable compromise when cost, logistics, regulatory acceptance, environmental risk, and perception of various alternatives are considered. This preference for CAD cells often occurs even when other alternatives with similar risk reduction and less cost, such as an open water capping alternative, are considered as options. This paradox is largely a result of subjective factors that affect regulatory acceptance such as public perceptions.
Keywords: Confined aquatic disposal Contaminated sediment Environmental risk Capping

The Corps 2015 Federal Navigation Standards Memo and Related Documents

Strategic Placement for Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (ERDC CHL, June 2019)

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are changing their perception of dredged material, from a byproduct of the dredging process to a valuable resource. The negative perception of navigation dredged material is codified under the 1972 Clean Water Act Section 502, which specifically defines “dredge spoils” as a pollutant, along with solid waste, sewage, and garbage. However, navigation dredged material is typically a mixture of sand, silt, clay, and possibly gravel. These sediments resources are critical to controlling flood risks and providing environmental benefits. This document provides details regarding the use of dredged material to support Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) through strategic placement. Strategic placement is the process of placing sediment at one location with the expectation that hydrodynamic and possibly aerodynamic forces will transport specified classes of that sediment to desired locations. Strategic placement is a beneficial use option that may have less negative impact on the final receptor sites and often can be performed at a reduced cost when compared to direct placement (such as beach nourishment). Cost controls are critical to developing sustainable dredged sediment management plans that address the Federal Standard, which guides the disposal and placement of dredged material.

Section 7 Consultation for Continued Use of 13 Open-Water Disposal Sites

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), New England District, has initiated informal consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) as amended with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Protected Resource Division (PRD) for the continued use of these 13 open-water disposal sites, which are located in waters off the coasts of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, for dredged material disposal.

USACE ERDC Bioaccumulation Risk Assessment Modeling System (BRAMS)

  • The BRAMS is an executable program that contains three separate tools, the Bioaccumulation Evaluation Screening Tool (BEST), Trophic Trace (TT) and FishRand (FR).

Dredged Material Evaluation Guidance for Other Areas 

Scarborough, ME Sediment Tracking Results 

Publications on Reduction of Flood Waters through Coastal Wetlands

Regional Implementation Manual

Beneficial Use

Sediment Characterization