Northwestern Division / Missions / Civil Works / Navigation / RSET

Regional Sediment Evaluation Team

Regional Sediment Evaluation Team
RSET agencies include USACE; the EPA; NOAA Fisheries; the USFWS; the State of Oregon, Dept of Environmental Quality; the State of Idaho, Dept of Environmental Quality; the State of Washington, Dept of Ecology; and the State of Washington, Dept of Natural Resources.

Notice

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division (USACE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Region 10 (EPA) have proposed an update to the May 2018 Sediment Evaluation Framework for the Pacific Northwest (SEF). USACE and EPA are soliciting public comments on the draft Final RSET Issue Paper No. 2025-01 – Revision of PCB Target Tissue Level l for Juvenile Salmonids. The Regional Sediment Evaluation Team (RSET) initially presented the PCB target tissue level (TTL) Issue Paper at the May 7, 2025 Sediment Management Annual Review Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Purpose and background: the SEF provides regional guidance for the characterization and assessment of dredged sediment and potential water quality impacts that may occur during dredging and inwater placement. The SEF describes procedures for the evaluation of potential contaminant-related environmental impacts of dredging and the aquatic placement of dredged material in inland waters (regulated under the Clean Water Act) and the transport and disposal of dredged material in ocean waters (regulated under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act). The RSET Agencies[1] prepared the SEF for use in the Pacific Northwest, defined here as the States of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The SEF is periodically revised and updated to account for advances in regulatory practice and technical understanding.

The draft Final RSET Issue Paper describes a revised PCB TTL for the protection of juvenile salmonids as 1.5 μg/g lipid. The paper provides a comparison of bioaccumulation testing results to determine whether sediments are suitable for unconfined, aquatic placement or pose an unacceptable bioaccumulation risk and therefore require upland disposal.

Public comment: the draft Final RSET 2025 Issue Paper is available for public comment from September 30, 2025 to October 31, 2025. The Issue Paper is available for public review at https://publibrary.sec.usace.army.mil/api/download?id=52235efd-b95c-40c3-de86-015bea6eacc2&filename=RSET%20Bioaccumulation%20Triggers%20for%20Juvenile%20Salmonids%2020250908_Final_Draft%20(002).pdf&token=&preview=true.

 

Questions and comments regarding the SEF Issue Paper should be sent to:

PSET Lead

PSET.Lead@usace.army.mil

US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District

Navigation Division, CENWP-NVW-W

P.O. Box 2870

Portland, Oregon 97208-2870

[1] The RSET Agencies include: USACE Northwestern Division (chair) and Portland, Seattle, and Walla Walla Districts; EPA Region 10 (chair); National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington Department of Ecology; Washington Department of Natural Resources; Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Sediment Evaluation Framework

Sediment Evaluation Framework for the Pacific Northwest -  Finalized May 2018

The US Army Corps of Engineers and US Environmental Protection Agency share federal responsibility for regulating dredged material within waters of the United States under section 404 of the Clean Water Act and for regulating dredged material in ocean waters under section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.

Under section 401 of the CWA, the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho must also certify that aquatic discharges do not violate state and federal water quality standards.

This Sediment Evaluation Framework for the Pacific Northwest provides a framework for assessing and characterizing sediment to determine the suitability of dredged material for unconfined, aquatic disposal; determine the suitability of post-dredge surfaces; and predict effects on water quality during dredging. The Sediment Evaluation Framework describes procedures for evaluating potential contaminant-related environmental impacts of dredging and the aquatic placement of dredged material in inland waters and the disposal of dredged material in ocean waters.

The framework is designed for use in the Pacific Northwest, defined here as the States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It will be periodically revised and updated as warranted by advances in regulatory practice and technical understanding.

May 2018
Sediment Evaluation Framework Updated

A draft version of the updated SEF was posted for public review from December 22, 2017 to February 20, 2018. No comments were received. The RSET agencies subsequently adopted the updated SEF in May 2018. An Informational Joint Public Notice was issued on July 12, 2018 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Northwestern Division and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-Region disseminating the updated May 2018 SEF.

This 2018 Sediment Evaluation Framework was prepared by the Northwestern Regional Sediment Evaluation Team (RSET) agencies and finalized in May 2018. It updates the 2016 SEF, which replaced the 2009 SEF and the freshwater benthic toxicity screening levels published in the 2006 interim final SEF.

The changes included in the May 2018 SEF clarified the guidance on the Conceptual Site Model (CSM) (Chapter 3.3) with additional examples and added general information and guidance on Debris Management prior to in-water disposal of dredged material (Chapter 10.1.4).

Proposed Change for the Sediment Evaluation Framework?

The Process for Public Input to the SEF is described in Appendix B of the May 2018 edition of the SEF. 

You can copy the content below and paste it into the message block here. Select Regional Sediment Evaluation Team from the Recipient drop-down menu, provide your name, email address, type "SEF Issue/Change" in the Subject field, provide the information with the corresponding item listed below. When you are done, click, "Send Message".

  • LIST OF PREPARERS and CONTACT INFORMATION:
  • ISSUE/CHANGE:
  • DISCUSSION (provided by entity proposing change and/or appropriate workgroup): Background:
  • PROPOSED LANGUAGE/ISSUE RESOLUTION:
  • RECOMMENDATION:
  • REFERENCES:

Contact Us

To contact us, click Contact and select Regional Sediment Evaluation Team from the dropdown list. 

To be included in future correspondence for RSET meetings and other notifications, please place the words "RSET Meetings" in the subject line and include your name, affiliation and email address in your message.


Ongoing work at the EPA and USACE

Agency laboratories continue research on sediment quality issues. The following are ongoing projects that will impact the conduct and interpretation of toxicity bioaccumulation testing.