THE ITM

• is a new document

• contains up-to-date procedures

• provides a national framework

• allows for regional flexibility

United States Department of the Army EPA 823-F-98-005

Environmental Protection U.S. Army Corps of Engineers February 1998

Agency

Office of Water (4305)

FACT SHEET

INLAND TESTING MANUAL (ITM)

INTRODUCTION

The Inland Testing Manual (ITM) contains up-to-date

procedures to implement requirements in the Clean impacts associated with the discharge of fill

Water Act (CWA) Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines for material. However, where dredged material

evaluation of potential contaminant-related impacts associated with navigational dredging will be

associated with the discharge of dredged material in discharged in open water as fill, the procedures of

fresh, estuarine, and saline (near-coastal) waters. this manual are applicable (e.g., the construction of

Formally titled "Evaluation of Dredged Material an underwater berm using dredged material).

Proposed for Discharge in Waters of the U.S. - Testing

Manual," it was prepared by a joint Environmental

Protection Agency/Corps of Engineers (EPA/CE)

Workgroup. In 1991, EPA and CE revised an Ocean

Testing Manual (“Evaluation of Dredged Material

Proposed for Ocean Disposal - Testing Manual”) for

evaluation of potential contaminant-related impacts

associated with the discharge of dredged material in the

ocean, under the Marine Protection Research and

Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA). The ITM is patterned after

this manual.

The ITM Addresses:

contaminant-related impacts associated with

discharges of dredged material resulting from

navigational dredging (or dredging activities of

essentially the same character as navigation

dredging, such as open water discharges of dredged Sediments may contain contaminants which, if

material excavated from a soft-bottom flood control bioavailable, can cause adverse environmental effects

channel or reservoir) in open water disposal areas. and, in some cases, affect human health. Dredged

contaminant-related impacts to waters of the U.S. these contaminants. The vast majority of disposal

associated with dredged material runoff from activities occur in inland and near coastal waters. The

confined disposal areas. ITM sets forth national technical guidance (which

The ITM Does Not Address: potential contaminant-related impacts from dredged

impacts associated with the dredging activity itself.

impacts associated with dredged material discharges public comment. A Notice was published in the Federal

resulting from excavation of drainage ditches and

landclearing.

BACKGROUND

material disposal activities may release or redistribute

replaces a 1976 guidance manual) for evaluating

material discharges in such waters.

In 1994, a draft of the document was distributed for
EVALUATE EXISTING

INFORMATION; (POSSIBLE

LIMITED TESTING

FOR EXCLUSIONS)

WATER COLUMN BENTHOS

MEASURE AND

MODEL DISSOLVED

CONTAMINANTS;

COMPARE TO WQS

CALCULATE THEORETICAL

BIOACCUMULATION

POTENTIAL; COMPARE

TO REFERENCE

MEASURE TOXICITY

MODEL SUSPENDED

PHASE; DETERMINE

TOXICITY AFTER MIXING

MEASURE TOXICITY;

MEASURE 

BIOACCUMULATION;

COMPARE TO FDA LIMITS

AND TO REFERENCE

CONDUCT

CASE-SPECIFIC

TOXICITY TESTS

CONDUCT

CASE-SPECIFIC

TOXICITY;

BIOACCUMULATION;

OTHER TESTS

TIER II

(SOLELY CONCERNED

WITH CHEMISTRY)

TIER III

(GENERIC BIOASSAY

[TOXICITY AND

BIOACCUMULATION]

TESTS)

TIER IV

(SPECIFIC BIOASSAY

[TOXICITY AND 

BIOACCUMULATION]

AND OTHER TESTS

TIER I

(GENERALLY REPRESENTS

EXISTING INFORMATION)

Register announcing the availability of the draft and application is allowed within this national

document for review and copies were sent to Federal and framework.

State agencies, port authorities, environmental

organizations, and other interested parties. Public

meetings were also held in 1994 to discuss the document

in Boston, MA, Arlington, VA, Atlanta, GA, San Jose, The ITM uses a tiered testing approach as shown in

CA, Seattle, WA, Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, and Figure 1 and described below.

Houston, TX. Altogether, about 2,000 copies of the

draft testing manual were distributed. Comments

received through the public review process, including

those from EPA’s Science Advisory Board, were used to

shape the final document. Many individuals and groups

provided useful and insightful recommendations

throughout the ITM development process and their time

and effort is greatly appreciated. Modifications were

made in the final ITM, where appropriate, based on

these comments. A copy of the comments, and EPA’s

response, is available for review at EPA’s Water Docket

(202-260-3027).

SCHEDULE

It is the intent of the Corps and EPA that the ITM be

phased in over the next 18 months in accordance with

the schedule detailed in a CE/EPA “Implementation

Memorandum” that will accompany the ITM. As per the

FederalRegister notice announcing the availability of the

ITM, a copy may be obtained by contacting:

Inland Testing Manual Mailing List

c/o Mr. Thomas Patin

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Waterways Experiment Station

3909 Halls Ferry Road

Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199

The ITM is also available on Worldwide Web at the

Corps Dredging Operations Technical Support home

page at: http://www.wes.army.mil/el/dots/, or at EPA

web site http://www.epa.gov/OST/pubs/ITM.html.

PURPOSE

The ITM provides a national testing framework which

comprises one element of an overall decision-making

process for determining whether dredged material can be

discharged into CWA Section 404 waters. The ITM is

intended to provide for consistency between dredged

material evaluations under CWA and MPRSA. In

recognition of the importance of site- and situationspecific concerns, regional flexibility in implementation

DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 Overview of ITM Tiered Testing

Approach

Tier I - Involves an examination of existing information

to determine (1) whether or not there is "reason to

believe" that the material needs to be tested for potential

adverse effects, and (2) identification of any

contaminants of concern relative to testing in later tiers.

Material may be excluded from further testing if there is

reasonable assurance that (1) it is not a carrier of

contaminants, or (2) it is adjacent and similar to the

disposal site material, and dispersal of the discharge can

be controlled. Some limited testing may be necessary to

confirm such exclusions.

Tier II - Is concerned solely with sediment and water

chemistry. Tier II provides useful information through

screening tools, but not all possible determinations can

be reached at this tier. It presently consists of (1)

measuring dissolved contaminants, (2) evaluation of

state Water Quality Standard (WQS) compliance using

a numerical mixing model, and (3) an evaluation of

theoretical bioaccumulation potential for nonpolar

organic chemicals.
THE ITM INCLUDES:

• Statutory and Regulatory Background

• Scope and Applicability

• Overview of Testing and Evaluation

• Technical Guidance

- Sampling and Analysis

- Physical and Chemical Evaluations

- Bioassays (Toxicity and

Bioaccumulation)

- Quality Assurance/Quality Control

- Evaluation of Discharges from

Confined Disposal Facilities

- Evaluation of Mixing

- Statistical Methods

- Identification of Ammonia Toxicity

Tier III - Employs well-defined, nationally accepted

bioassays including: (1) water column laboratory

toxicity tests, (2) whole sediment laboratory toxicity

tests, (3) whole sediment bioaccumulation tests.

Appropriately sensitive organisms are recommended,

including benchmark species for evaluating the

sensitivity of regional species. Summaries of test

conditions and test acceptability criteria for all

recommended bioassay species are also provided.

Toxicity testing emphasizes acute responses, generally

survival. Water column toxicity evaluations consider

mixing of the dredged material at the discharge site.

Benthic bioaccumulation testing provides for the

determination of bioavailability through 28-day

exposure tests. Tier III testing will usually provide

sufficient information for use in the overall decisionmaking process for compliance with the Guidelines.

Tier IV - Will only be used in special cases, where

results from tests in earlier tiers are insufficient to

determine the potential adverse effects of the material to

be discharged. Tier IV, like Tier III, uses toxicity and

bioaccumulation tests, however: (1) toxicity tests may

involve field (rather than laboratory) exposures, different

end-points (e.g., chronic rather than acute), different

species, or longer laboratory exposures; (2)

bioaccumulation tests may involve field (rather than

laboratory) exposures using transplanted or resident

organisms, or longer laboratory exposures. Tier IV can

also include benthos studies.

Reference Sediment - Provides the point of comparison

for evaluating the potential effects of dredged material.

Testing requirements in the Section 404(b)(1)

Guidelines regarding the point of comparison for

evaluating proposed discharges of dredged material are

being updated to provide for comparison to a “reference

sediment” as opposed to sediment from the disposal site.

Because discharges at a disposal site could impact the

point of comparison for future discharges at that site,

adoption of a reference sediment that is unimpacted by

previous discharges of dredged material will result in a

more scientifically sound evaluation of potential

individual and cumulative contaminant-related impacts.

This change to the Guidelines was proposed in the

FederalRegister in January 1995, public comments have

been received, and a final rule Notice is being prepared.

Our agencies expect that the final rule will be published

prior to the first phase-in date for ITM implementation,

August 1, 1998, and as a result the reference sediment

approach will be implemented in the ITM. Revised text

for the ITM will be added as necessary to reflect the

final rule. 

SUMMARY

The ITM is intended to provide greater national

consistency in the (1) testing process, and (2) level of

environmental protection, both among regions of the

U.S. and between inland and ocean waters.