E50 - Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Purpose—This guide provides an overview of frameworks used for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures applicable to a variety of organizations. This guide provides users with information on the history of ESG disclosure frameworks, the components that comprise ESG disclosures, the target audience of these disclosures, and the challenges associated with this topic.  
4.2 How to Use Information—This guide is intended to provide a brief overview of ESG disclosure frameworks and considerations. The users of this guide are encouraged to review the sections of this guide and the supplemental information provided in the Appendices to this guide which include example templates and further discussion on key topics relevant to ESG disclosures.  
4.3 Who Should Use Information—The intended users of this guide may include a diverse range of stakeholders such as industries and companies that use, make, or sell products; regulators at federal, state and local levels; consultants and vendors; consumers; investors; academic researchers and students; non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and community constituents. Over the past 35 years, this topic has been the subject of increasing corporate, regulatory, consumer, ratings agencies, and stakeholder interest.  
4.4 Regulatory Context—This guide reviews regulatory developments regarding ESG disclosures in the U.S. and internationally. This guide provides a brief overview of regulatory developments and trends regarding ESG disclosures. Users of this guide should stay current on the regulatory requirements applicable to their operations, products, services, and supply and value chains.  
4.5 Frameworks—This guide provides an overview of ESG disclosure frameworks in the U.S. and internationally. There are several voluntary frameworks that provide guidance for ESG disclosures, such as GRI, TCFD, the Value Reporting Foundation, and the Stakeholder Capital Metrics framework (developed by the World Economic Forum a...
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1.1 This guide provides an overview of frameworks used for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures applicable to a variety of organizations.  
1.2 This guide discusses the history and purpose of ESG disclosure frameworks, as well as the challenges associated with the greater interest in and broader requirements for transparency and accountability in the information used in disclosures.  
1.3 The focus of this guide is the array of ESG disclosure frameworks and the regulatory context for organizations making ESG disclosures including climate and community concerns.  
1.4 The goal of this guide is to improve the users’ understanding of ESG disclosure frameworks and to outline but not to supersede federal, state, tribal, and local regulatory requirements, and guidelines for disclosures. This guide can be used in situations where there may not be a regulatory requirement or framework for disclosure, or where the user wishes to conduct voluntary disclosure initiatives. In addition, it can also be used to standardize efforts when several different disclosure requirements apply to an organization.  
1.5 This guide is organized as follows:    
Section 1  
Scope  
Section 2  
Referenced Documents  
Section 3  
Terminology  
Section 4  
Significance and Use  
Section 5  
Overview of ESG Disclosure Requirements and Guidelines  
Section 6  
Overview of ESG Disclosure Frameworks  
Section 7  
Common Elements of ESG Disclosures  
Section 8  
Data Sources and Metrics  
Section 9  
Materiality Determinations  
Section 10  
Communications Methods and Best Practices  
Section 11  
Keywords  
Appendix X1  
Resources for this Guide: Weblinks  
Appendix X2  
Example State and Municipal Disclosure Requirements  
Appendix X3  
Example Industry-Specific Disclosure Templates  
Appendix X4  
Databases for Federal Environmental Criteria  
Appendix X5  
Resources for Social and Gove...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Use—this guide is intended for use on a voluntary basis for evaluating environmental liabilities, often with Guide E2137 for estimation and Guide E2173 for disclosure. The user may elect to apply this guide for any or all of these purposes:  
4.1.1 Determining if an environmental risk or liability exists,  
4.1.2 Determining if similar environmental risks (for example, permits, plant or process expansion) are being recognized at similar points in their lifecycle,  
4.1.3 Determining if several similar environmental risks and liabilities are being managed to similar outcomes,  
4.1.4 Determining liability values,  
4.1.5 Due diligence analysis for proposed mergers, acquisitions, or spinoffs,  
4.1.6 Documenting key decisions on environmental liability provisions, reserves, budgets and cash flow forecasts.  
4.1.7 Identifying and analyzing liabilities associated with the following:
4.1.7.1 certain remedial alternatives,
4.1.7.2 future land uses, property transfer and redevelopment decisions,
4.1.7.3 land use alternatives for former landfills and chemically impacted sites,
4.1.7.4 Meeting regulatory requirements,  
4.1.8 Designing and implementing project and program controls,  
4.1.9 Defending against third-party lawsuits,  
4.1.10 Calculating insurance premiums,  
4.1.11 Making and settling insurance claims,  
4.1.12 Making purchase accounting adjustments,  
4.1.13 Preparing an audit defense, and  
4.1.14 Completing financial and investment analysis.  
4.2 Principles—the following principles are an integral part of this guide and should be used to resolve ambiguity or dispute regarding the recognition and derecognition of environmental liabilities. These principles are drawn from several sources, including historical and current accounting principles, court decisions, academic studies, as well as good commercial and customary practice.  
4.2.1 Current awareness of an entity’s accounting framework and applicable generally accepted accountin...
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1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this guide is to provide a series of options or instructions consistent with good commercial and customary practice for recognition and derecognition of environmental liabilities. This guide is consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Recognition of environmental liabilities is essential to determining the current book value of an entity. An entity may have future spending to extinguish risk and liabilities triggered in the past. Serious consequences, ranging from failed audits and poor capital stewardship to financial fraud and bankruptcy, exist for entities omitting material information from financial statements.  
1.2 Objective—This guide enables users to reliably determine if a given type of environmental liability exists and subsequently has been settled, consistent with the accounting definitions in place.  
1.3 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 All liquid and debris in a containment sump should be removed and managed properly.  
5.2 Liquids introduced into a containment sump for testing purposes may come in contact with regulated substances that have leaked from the primary UST system.  
5.2.1 Test liquids in contact with regulated substances may require response and corrective action if leaked from a containment sump during testing. 40 CFR §280.12 defines release as “any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing from an UST into groundwater, surface water or subsurface soils.”  
5.2.2 For handling and disposal consideration for liquids removed from containment sumps, see Appendix X1.  
5.3 Visual examinations may identify compromised conditions that warrant repair or response to reduce the probability of a release of regulated substance to the environment.  
5.3.1 Visual examinations should be performed prior to the introduction of liquids in to a containment sump to reduce the potential risk of a release of regulated substance to the environment during liquid testing methods.  
5.3.2 Frequent visual examination of containment sumps between three-year test intervals is a proactive loss preventative measure that may identify compromised equipment before the equipment fails.  
5.3.3 Visual examinations do not apply vacuum, or pressure, stress to containment sump components, nor do visual examinations introduce liquids into containment sumps which may come in contact with regulated substances that must be properly handled pursuant to regulations of the authority having jurisdiction.  
5.4 Spill prevention equipment and containment sumps are designed to contain a regulated substance that is released from the primary fuel path of a UST system including leaks that occur when the delivery hose is disconnected from the fill pipe, until the regulated substance is detected and removed. There is no established leak rate, capacity requirement or holding time.  
5.5 Spill p...
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1.1 This practice describes a visual examination to determine if a containment sump has been compromised and to identify any compromised components.  
1.2 United States of America federal regulations found in 40 CFR 280 address inspection and testing of spill prevention equipment and containment sumps used for piping interstitial monitoring. The testing and inspection requirements include the following:  
1.2.1 Spill prevention equipment and containment sumps used for piping interstitial monitoring must be tested at least once every three years to ensure the equipment is liquid tight by using vacuum, pressure, or liquid testing.  
1.2.2 Containment sumps must be inspected annually.  
1.2.3 Spill prevention equipment must be inspected every 30 days.  
1.2.4 The authority having jurisdiction may have different or more frequent inspection and testing requirements.  
1.3 The visual examination described in this practice addresses the inspection requirements of:  
1.3.1 the annual inspection of containment sumps;  
1.3.2 the 30 day walk through inspection for spill prevention equipment; and  
1.3.3 the visual examination performed prior to conducting a test of the spill prevention equipment or containment sumps used for interstitial monitoring.  
1.4 This practice is not a recognized test to determine if spill prevention equipment or containment sumps used for interstitial monitoring are liquid tight.  
1.5 The user is expected to have knowledge of UST installation procedures and UST operational, maintenance and testing requirements of related to the tasks performed.  
1.6 Section 6 provides the recommended minimum qualifications and educational requirements of a the inspector. The authority having jurisdiction may have additional certification requirements.  
1.7 This practice offers a set of instructions for performing one or more specific operations. This document cannot replace education or experience and sho...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 This standard guide is designed to help the owners and regulators of a specific environmental problem to identify and integrate affected stakeholders and establish a process to identify and work through all the key questions and answers essential to a mutually acceptable decision. This standard guide presents a “framework” that is intended to help ensure that all the CBED process components (that is, human health, ecological condition, socio-cultural values and economic well-being) are considered, but is designed to allow the user to interpret which components of the process are applicable and how these components are defined for the specific environmental problem being addressed. It also provides general guidance to help with selecting approaches and methods for specific analyses of each of the major CBED components (that is, human health, ecological condition, socio-cultural values, and economic well-being). The CBED process can be easily coupled with other relevant standards (for example Guides E1739, E1984, E2205, and E2876) and environmental compliance guidance and requirements, for example, Quality of Stakeholder-Based Decisions and Understanding Risk, 40 CRF 1501, 10 CFR 20, and Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1972.  
5.2 The CBED process is appropriate in two contexts: (1) when a specific project is proposed; and (2) when there are or may be public concerns about specific health, environmental, cultural, social or economic issues. CERCLA § 128(a) grantees will find the CBED process useful for community engagement activities such as the analysis of brownfields cleanup alternatives.  
5.3 Involving affected stakeholders actively in the decision-making process reorients that process from one dominated by regulators and owners to one that includes those who live with the consequences of the decision. This not only increases the successful implementation of decisions, but also can promote greater trust in government, industry and other institutions (See Se...
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1.1 This guide presents a framework for a stakeholder-focused Consensus-based Environmental Decision-making (CBED) process, which is a stakeholder-empowered, process to prioritize and select actions to be initiated with the goal of optimizing many types of environmental decisions that may affect a community or communities.  
1.2 This guide is intended to describe a highly flexible CBED process, and therefore does not recommend a specific course of action for this activity.  
1.3 This guide is intended to assist in implementing a CBED process, which allows assessing the full impact of any project- or issue-related decisions related to human health, ecological, socio-cultural or economic impacts.2  
1.3.1 States and Tribes applying for CERCLA §128(a) Brownfields grants may find this guide useful when developing and implementing their meaningful public participation and community engagement programs.  
1.4 This guide is not intended to replace existing environmental decision-making or public participation processes. It may be used with other processes or standards that address stakeholder involvement in environmental decision-making.  
1.5 Limitations—This standard does not address the specific methods for generating or evaluating technical data related to assessing a particular environmental issues. The user should seek other sources on methods to gather information for completion of models or other analyses that may be used during a CBED process. This standard may not fully address the rights of owners of real property or the potential impact (positive or negative) on the value of real property of a decision made using this process.  
1.6 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technica...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Purpose—This guide provides a process for reclamation of existing CCPs placed in active and inactive storage areas. The guide includes information on the following activities required for the safe and effective reclamation of CCPs from storage areas: (1) Background Review of CCP Storage Areas; (2) Detailed Characterization of CCP Storage Areas; (3) Harvesting Planning and Scoping of CCP Storage Areas; (4) Harvesting Detailed Design and Approval of CCP Storage Areas; and (5) Harvesting Implementation of CCP Storage Areas. More detailed descriptions of these activities are in Sections 6 through 10.  
4.2 Potential Beneficial Uses of CCPs—There are many CCP storage areas that are potentially harvestable and can provide a functional benefit in a wide variety of beneficial uses. The beneficial use of CCPs contained in these storage areas can have significant environmental and economic benefits for the facility, the facility owner and the local economy, and can significantly reduce disposal operations (1-4).4 Beneficial use of CCPs can provide industry with a safe and responsible way to economically manage the CCPs, while promoting conservation and recycling/reuse, meeting sustainability goals, and addressing the shortage of CCPs in some building product market areas (1, 2, 5). CCPs consist of fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) ash, economizer ash, and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) material (see Terminology E2201 for definitions of CCPs) (6, 7).  
4.2.1 Fly ash is the most abundant CCP in existing storage areas. Its beneficial uses include, but are not limited to: partial replacement for cement in concrete and concrete products – once in concrete, fly ash reacts with Portland cement to create additional reaction products that improve the strength and durability of concrete; raw feed for the production clinker – fly ash can be calcined along with other minerals to produce clinker; blended cements – fly ash can be an important component ...
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1.1 This guide covers a framework to address critical aspects related to the harvesting of CCPs placed in active (operational) and inactive (closed or no longer receiving CCPs) storage areas. These storage areas may be used for wet or dry material, and may be located at active or inactive facilities (that is, coal-fired electric utilities or independent power producers that are currently generating electricity or have ceased to do so, respectively). Also, CCPs may be harvested from active or inactive storage areas located on-site or off-site of the facility.  
1.2 This guide does not include information on how to determine what storage areas or facilities, or both, should be selected for potential harvesting of CCPs, as each entity may approach a harvesting program in accordance with their own harvesting pursuits and regulatory requirements. In addition, it does not include information on how an energy company or other interested parties should evaluate inventories to determine the order of their storage areas for potential harvesting, including consideration of risk, performance, and cost. This guide is intended to be used to evaluate the potential harvesting of the storage areas once the storage areas are selected for evaluation.  
1.3 This guide is comprised of the following sections: Scope, Section 1; Referenced Documents, Section 2; Terminology, Section 3; Significance and Use, Section 4; Project Planning and Scoping, Section 5: Background Review of CCP Storage Areas, Section 6; Detailed Characterization of CCP Storage Areas, Section 7; Harvesting Planning and Scoping of CCP Storage Areas, Section 8; Harvesting Detailed Design and Approval (as applicable) of CCP Storage Areas, Section 9; and Harvesting Implementation of CCP Storage Areas, Section 10. Not all information within this guide will be necessary for each harvesting project, and the user should determine the applicability of each section.  
1.3.1 Section...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of more than 4700 synthetic organic chemicals. PFAS can withstand high temperatures and survive highly corrosive environments. They are used in the manufacture of coatings, surface treatments, and specialty chemicals in cookware, carpets, food packaging, clothing, cosmetics, and other common consumer products. PFAS also have many industrial applications and are an active ingredient in certain types of fire-fighting foams (aqueous film-forming foams, or AFFF). PFAS coatings resist oil, grease, and water. PFAS are persistent compounds. Therefore, PFAS should be considered for purposes of managing investigation-derived waste where PFAS is known or suspected to be present in environmental media.  
4.1.1 PFAS are emerging contaminants for which environmental regulations and guidance are dynamic and are being developed simultaneously at federal, state, local, and international levels as more is learned about their characteristics, environmental fate, and management/treatment. Therefore, site-specific rules, regulations, and guidance should be evaluated for options and restrictions on management of PFAS  investigation-derived waste. For example, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has determined that PFAS wastes are “hazardous materials” subject to the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act (M.G.L. Chapter 21E) and the Massachusetts Contingency Plan. Other states and jurisdictions may have or will develop and implement similar determinations that affect the on-site management, storage, and labeling and off-site transportation requirements for PFAS  investigation-derived waste.  
4.1.2 Given the characteristics and persistence of PFAS compounds, PFAS  investigation-derived waste presents special handling and treatment/disposal considerations. EPA recently issued Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoralkyl and Polyfluoralky...
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1.1 Existing guidance on the management of investigation-derived waste is focused upon cuttings, purge water, personal protective equipment, and other miscellaneous solid waste generated at property that may be impacted by the release of hazardous materials and hazardous substances. These hazardous substances include, but are not limited to, heavy metals, petroleum, petroleum byproducts, solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic and inorganic corrosives, radioactive material, and explosives. Guidance on the management of investigation derived waste generated at sites that may be impacted by releases of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is limited. This standard guide addresses this deficiency  
1.2 This guide describes best practices for managing investigation-derived waste associated with PFAS that are consistent with federal and state policies and regulations at the date of issuance. The user is advised to determine if new regulations or rules have been promulgated by the state, federal, or tribal regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the property.  
1.3 This guide describes considerations to prevent the unintended and unauthorized disposal of liquid investigation-derived waste that may contain PFAS into wastewater treatment plants or systems that are not permitted to receive these waste streams.  
1.4 This guide describes considerations to prevent the unintended and unauthorized disposal of solid investigation-derived waste that may contain PFAS into landfills or other solid waste disposal facilities that are not permitted to receive these waste streams.  
1.5 This guide describes several stormwater pollution prevention best management practices applicable to investigation-derived waste.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety,...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Uses—This classification is intended for use by federal landholding agencies and DoD components in order to direct ECOP efforts. It is also intended for use by preparers and reviewers of environmental condition of property maps, explosives safety condition maps, and ECOP reports used to support CERFA uncontaminated parcel identifications and parcels suitable for transfer by lease or by deed. This classification should be used to facilitate standardized determinations of the environmental condition and explosives safety conditions of a federal landholding agency, FUDS, and DoD installation's real property. Such environmental condition of property and explosives safety condition determinations are necessary to assess the progress of ongoing environmental restoration, identify areas where further response may be required, identify areas where further evaluation is necessary, and to support FOSTs and FOSLs. An environmental condition of property map, and explosives safety condition map, if applicable, based upon the ECOP report prepared in accordance with Practice D6008, is prepared using this classification. The ECOP report may be used to determine the MILCON category (see Section 8 and Table X1.1 in Appendix X1).
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1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this classification is to define eight standard environmental condition of property area types for federally-owned real property with respect to the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 Section 120(h), as amended by the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act (CERFA) of 1992, and Section 331 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997. As such, this classification is intended to permit a federal landholding agency to classify property into eight area types, in order to facilitate and support findings of suitability to transfer (FOSTs), findings of suitability to lease (FOSLs), and uncontaminated parcel determinations pursuant to the requirements of CERFA. Users of this classification should note that it does not address (except where noted explicitly) requirements for appropriate and timely regulatory consultation or concurrence, or both, during the identification and use of these environmental condition of property area types.  
1.1.1 Eight Recognized Standard Environmental Condition of Property Area Types—The goal of this classification is to permit federal landholding agencies to classify properties in order to support determinations of which properties are suitable and unsuitable for transfer by lease or by deed. The term “standard environmental condition of property area type” refers to one of the eight area types defined in this classification. An identification of an area type on an environmental condition of property map means that a federal landholding agency federally-owned has conducted sufficient studies to make a determination of the recognized environmental conditions of installation real property or has complied with the identification requirements of uncontaminated property under CERFA, or both, and has categorized the property into one of the following eight area types:
1.1.1.1 Standard Environmental Condition of Property Area Type 1—An area or parcel of real property where no release, or disposal of hazardous substances or petroleum products or their derivatives has occurred (including no migration of these substances from adjoining properties).
1.1.1.2 Standard Environmental Condition of Property Area Type 2—An area or parcel of real property where only the release or disposal of petroleum products or their derivatives has occurred.
1.1.1.3 Standard Environmental Condition of Property Area Type 3—An area or parcel of real property where release, disposal, or migration, or some combination thereof, of hazardous substances has occurred, but at concentrations that do not require a removal or remedial action.
1.1.1.4 Standard E...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Use—This guide is intended to reflect a reasonable baseline process for the completion of PCAs for use on a voluntary basis. No implication is intended that use of this guide be required to have conducted a PCA in a commercially prudent and reasonable manner. The baseline process described in this guide is subject to a moderate level of uncertainty. Because the objectives, risk tolerance, schedule, and budget of users can be dramatically different there are varying levels of PCA and due diligence that can be exercised that are both more and less comprehensive than this guide that may be appropriate to meet the objectives of the user. In accordance with ASTM protocols, this guide does not recommend a specific course of action or scope of work. Users should consider their requirements, the purpose that the PCA is to serve, and their risk tolerance to refine the scope of assessment and consultant qualifications in order to establish appropriate objectives for the assessment.  
4.2 Clarification of Use of Assessments:  
4.2.1 Specific Point in Time—A user should only rely on the PCR for the point in time that the observations and research were conducted.  
4.2.2 Site-Specific—The PCA prepared in accordance with this guide is site-specific in that it relates to the physical condition of primary improvements on a specific parcel of commercial real estate. Consequently, this guide does not address many additional issues in commercial real estate transactions such as economic obsolescence, the purchase of business entities, or physical deficiencies relating to off-site conditions.  
4.2.3 Specific Objectives—PCAs are completed to address specific objectives identified to the consultant by the user. The consultant should be consulted prior to use of the PCA to address any other objective.  
4.2.4 Intended Users—PCAs are typically completed for use by contracting parties. In some cases, the use of or reliance on reports may be extended to additional parties by mutua...
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1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this guide is to provide a framework for conducting a property condition assessment (PCA) of the primary improvements at commercial real estate properties by performing a walk-through survey and conducting research as outlined within this guide.  
1.1.1 Physical Deficiencies—The goal of the baseline process for property condition assessments is to identify and communicate material physical deficiencies to a user.  
1.1.2 Walk-Through Survey—This guide outlines procedures for conducting a walk-through survey to identify physical deficiencies, and recommends various building systems and building components that should be observed by the field observer.  
1.1.3 Document Reviews and Interviews—The scope of this guide includes document reviews, research, and interviews to augment the walk-through survey to assist with understanding the subject property and identification of physical deficiencies.  
1.1.4 Property Condition Report—The work product resulting from completing a PCA in accordance with this guide is a property condition report (PCR). The PCR incorporates the information obtained during the Walk-Through Survey, the Document Review and Interviews sections of this guide and includes opinions of costs for suggested remedies of observed physical deficiencies.  
1.2 Objectives—Objectives in the development of this guide are to: (1) provide a framework for conducting a property condition assessment (PCA) of the primary improvements located on a parcel of commercial real estate; (2) facilitate consistent and pertinent content in PCRs; (3) develop pragmatic and reasonable recommendations and expectations for site observations, document reviews and research associated with conducting PCAs and preparing PCRs; (4) establish reasonable expectations for PCRs; (5) assist in developing an industry standard of care for appropriate baseline observations and research; and (6) recommend protocols for th...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This guide provides an overview of analytical methods, techniques, and procedures that may be used in determination of PFAS in environmental media.  
4.2 This guide provides considerations relevant to the selection and application of PFAS analytical methods, techniques, and procedures, including the limitations of published analytical methods and the potential benefits and challenges of non-standard analytical approaches.  
4.3 This guide presents comparisons of published analytical methods and approaches, including tabular comparison of target analyte lists and method features, to aid users in the selection and application of analytical methods and techniques for project-specific applications.  
4.4 This guide describes qualitative techniques available to determine total PFAS, including explanation of terms, discussion of preparation and analytical techniques and limitations, conceptual overview schematic, and summary comparison table.  
4.5 This guide provides current information on research trends in PFAS determination techniques applied to environmental media.  
4.6 This guide provides an integrated framework that results in efficient, cost-effective decision-making for timely, appropriate response actions for PFAS-impacted environmental media.  
4.7 This guide is not intended to replace or supersede federal, state, local, or international regulatory requirements. Instead, this guide may be used to complement and support such requirements.  
4.8 This guide may be used by various parties involved in response actions for PFAS-impacted environmental media, including regulatory agencies, project sponsors, environmental consultants and contractors, site remediation professionals, analytical testing laboratories, data reviewers, data users, academic institutions, research institutes, and other stakeholders.  
4.9 The users of this guide should consider assembling a team of experienced professionals with appropriate expertise to scope, plan, and execute PFA...
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1.1 This guide discusses the selection and application of analytical methods and techniques used to identify and quantitate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in environmental media. This guide provides a flexible, defensible framework applicable to a wide range of environmental programs. It is structured to support a tiered approach with analytical methods, procedures, and techniques of increasing complexity as the user proceeds through the evaluation process. This guide addresses key decision criteria and best practices to aid users in achieving project objectives. There are numerous technical decisions that must be made in the selection and application of analytical methods and techniques used during environmental data acquisition programs. It is not the intent of this guide to define appropriate technical decisions, but rather to provide technical support within existing decision frameworks.  
1.2 This guide informs practitioners on the considerations relevant to the selection and application of analytical methods and techniques for the quantitative and qualitative determination of PFAS in a variety of environmental sample media. This guide encourages user-led collaboration with stakeholders, including analytical laboratories, data evaluation practitioners, and regulators, in the selection and application of analytical methods and techniques used to support project-specific decision criteria and objectives as applied within a particular environmental regulatory program. This guide recognizes the complexity and diversity of environmental programs and project objectives and provides technical guidance for a range of project applications.  
1.3 This guide is intended to complement, not replace, existing regulatory requirements or guidance. ASTM International (ASTM) guides are not regulations; they are consensus-based standards that may be followed as needed.  
1.4 This guide recognizes that PFAS can be catego...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 A common result of cellular stress is an increase in DNA damage. DNA damage may be manifest in the form of base alterations, adduct formation, strand breaks, and cross linkages (19). Strand breaks may be introduced in many ways, directly by genotoxic compounds, through the induction of apoptosis or necrosis, secondarily through the interaction with oxygen radicals or other reactive intermediates, or as a consequence of excision repair enzymes (20-22). In addition to a linkage with cancer, studies have demonstrated that increases in cellular DNA damage precede or correspond with reduced growth, abnormal development, and reduced survival of adults, embryos, and larvae (16, 23, 24).  
5.1.1 The Comet assay can be easily utilized for collecting data on DNA strand breakage (9, 25, 26). It is a simple, rapid, and sensitive method that allows the comparison of DNA strand damage in different cell populations. As presented in this guide, the assay facilitates the detection of DNA single strand breaks and alkaline labile sites in individual cells, and can determine their abundance relative to control or reference cells  (9, 16, 26). The assay offers a number of advantages; damage to the DNA in individual cells is measured, only extremely small numbers of cells need to be sampled to perform the assay ((2, 27) .  
5.1.2 These are general guidelines. There are numerous procedural variants of this assay. The variation used is dependent upon the type of cells being examined, the types of DNA damage of interest, and the imaging and analysis capabilities of the lab conducting the assay. To visualize the DNA, it is stained with a fluorescent dye, or for light microscope analysis the DNA can be silver stained (28). Only fluorescent staining methods will be described in this guide. The microscopic determination of DNA migration can be made either by eye using an ocular micrometer or with the use of image analysis software. Scoring by eye can be performed using a calibrated ocular...
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1.1 This guide covers the recommended criteria for performing a single-cell gel electrophoresis assay (SCG) or Comet assay for the measurement of DNA single-strand breaks in eukaryotic cells. The Comet assay is a very sensitive method for detecting strand breaks in the DNA of individual cells. The majority of studies utilizing the Comet assay have focused on medical applications and have therefore examined DNA damage in mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo (1-4).2 There is increasing interest in applying this assay to DNA damage in freshwater and marine organisms to explore the environmental implications of DNA damage.  
1.1.1 The Comet assay has been used to screen the genotoxicity of a variety of compounds on cells in vitro and in vivo (5-7), as well as to evaluate the dose-dependent anti-oxidant (protective) properties of various compounds (3, 8-11). Using this method, significantly elevated levels of DNA damage have been reported in cells collected from organisms at polluted sites compared to reference sites (12-15). Studies have also found that increases in cellular DNA damage correspond with higher order effects such as decreased growth, survival, and development, and correlate with significant increases in contaminant body burdens (13, 16).  
1.2 This guide presents protocols that facilitate the expression of DNA alkaline labile single-strand breaks and the determination of their abundance relative to control or reference cells. The guide is a general one meant to familiarize lab personnel with the basic requirements and considerations necessary to perform the Comet assay. It does not contain procedures for available variants of this assay, which allow the determination of non-alkaline labile single-strand breaks or double-stranded DNA strand breaks (8), distinction between different cell types (13), identification of cells undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death, (1, 17)), measurement of cellular DNA repair...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Intended Use:  
4.1.1 This guide may be used by various parties involved in sediment corrective action programs, including regulatory agencies, project sponsors, environmental consultants, toxicologists, risk assessors, site remediation professionals, environmental contractors, and other stakeholders.  
4.2 Importance of the CSM:  
4.2.1 The CSM should be continuously updated and refined to describe the physical properties, chemical composition and occurrence, biologic features, and environmental conditions of the sediment corrective action project (Guide E1689).  
4.3 Reference Material:  
4.3.1 This guide should be used in conjunction with other ASTM guides listed in 2.1 (especially Guides E3344 and E3382); this guide should also be used in conjunction with the material in the References at the end of this guide (including 1). Utilizing these reference materials will direct the user in developing representative background concentrations for a sediment site.  
4.4 Flexible Site-Specific Implementation:  
4.4.1 This guide provides a systematic, but flexible, framework to accommodate variations in approaches by regulatory agencies and by the user based on project objectives, site complexity, unique site features, regulatory requirements, newly developed guidance, newly published scientific research, changes in regulatory criteria, advances in scientific knowledge and technical capability, and unforeseen circumstances.  
4.5 Regulatory Frameworks:  
4.5.1 This guide is intended to be applicable to a broad range of local, state, tribal, federal, or international jurisdictions, each with its own unique regulatory framework. As such, this guide does not provide a detailed discussion of the requirements or guidance associated with any of these regulatory frameworks, nor is it intended to supplant applicable regulations and guidance. The user of this guide will need to be aware of the regulatory requirements and guidance in the jurisdiction where the work...
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1.1 This guide describes data visualization, statistical, forensic chemistry and geochemical methodologies (including case studies) used in the evaluation of candidate background data sets; this evaluation leads to the development of representative background data sets for the sediment site. Statistical methodologies can then be applied to the representative background data sets to develop background threshold values (BTVs) that are measures of the upper limit of representative sediment background concentrations for the sediment site. In addition, representative background data sets and sediment site data sets can be compared using two-sample statistical tests to determine if there are statistically significant differences (at a specified confidence level) between the two data sets (such as, the median or mean values of the two data sets are significantly different).  
1.1.1 This guide is intended to inform, complement, and support, but not supersede the guidelines established by local, state, tribal, federal, or international agencies.  
1.2 Technically defensible representative sediment background concentrations are critical for several purposes (1).2 These include sediment site delineation, establishing remedial goals and cleanup levels, remedy selection, assessment of risks posed by representative background concentrations, and establishing appropriate post-remedial monitoring plans.  
1.3 The overarching framework for the development of representative sediment background concentrations at sediment sites is presented in Guide E3382. Guide E3240 provides a general discussion of how conceptual site model (CSM) development fits into the risk-based corrective action framework for contaminated sediment sites, while Guide E3382 provides a detailed discussion of the elements of a sediment site CSM that need to be considered when developing representative sediment background concentrations. Guide E3344 describes how to se...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 HACCP is a proactive management tool that serves to reduce hazards potentially expressed as adverse biological or environmental effects, for example, associated with chemical releases, changes in natural resource or engineering practices and their related impacts, and accidental or intentional releases of biological stressors such as invasive species.  
5.2 Sequential implementation of HACCP and feedback in the iterative HACCP process allows for technically-based judgments concerning, for example, natural resources or the use of natural resources. Implementing the HACCP process serves to reduce adverse effects potentially associated with a particular material or process, and provides guidance for testing and evaluation of products or processes, through a pre-emptive procedure focused on information most pertinent to a system’s characterization. For example, identification of CCPs assure that processes and practices can be managed to achieve hazard reduction. For different processes and situations, HA may be based on substantially different amounts and kinds of, for example, biological, chemical, physical, and toxicological data, but the identification of CCPs serving to reduce hazard is key to successful implementation of HACCP.  
5.3 HACCP should never be considered complete for all time, and continuing reassessment is a characteristic of HACCP evaluations, especially if there should be changes in, for example, production volumes of a material, or its use or disposal increases, new uses are discovered, or new information on biological, chemical, physical, or toxicological properties becomes available. Similarly, HACCP should be considered an ongoing process serving as a key component in engineering practices, for example, related to construction activities and land-use changes, and natural resource management practices, for example, related to habitat use, enhancement, and species introductions such as fish-stocking programs. Periodic review of a system’s per...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide describes a stepwise procedure for using existing information, and if available, supporting field and laboratory data concerning a process, materials, or products potentially linked to adverse effects likely to occur in the environment as a result of an event associated with a process such as the dispersal of a potentially invasive species or the release of material (for example, a chemical or a physical substance) or its derivative products to the environment. Hazard Analysis-Critical Control Point (HACCP) evaluations were historically linked to food safety (Hulebak and Schlosser W. 2002 (1);2 Mortimer and Wallace 2013 (2)), but the process has increasingly found application in planning processes such as those occurring in health sciences ; Quattrin et al. 2008 (3); Hjarno et al. 2007 (4); Griffith 2006 (5) or; Noordhuizen and Welpelo 1996 (6)), in natural resource management (US Forest Service 2014 a,b,c (7, 8, 9), (US EPA, 2006 (10); see also    
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/ais/prevention_planning.shtml; (last accessed October 16, 2023)
or in supporting field operations wherein worker health and natural resource management issues intersect.  
1.2 HACCP evaluation is a simple linear process or a network of linear processes that represents the structure of any event; the hazard analysis (HA) depends on the data quality and data quantity available for the evaluation process, especially as that relates to critical control points (CCPs) characterized in completing HACCP. Control measures target CCPs and serve as limiting factors or control steps in a process that reduce or eliminate the hazards that initiated the HACCP evaluation. The main reason for implementing HACCP is to prevent problems associated with a specific process, practice, material, or product.  
1.3 This guide assumes that the reader is knowledgeable in specific resource management or engineering practices us...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Uses—This practice is intended for use on a voluntary basis by parties who wish to assess the environmental condition of forestland or rural property taking into account commonly known and reasonably ascertainable information. While use of this practice is intended to constitute all appropriate inquiries for purposes of the LLPs, it is not intended that its use be limited to that purpose. This practice is intended primarily as an approach to conducting an inquiry designed to identify recognized environmental conditions in connection with a subject property. No implication is intended that a person shall use this practice in order to be deemed to have conducted inquiry in a commercially prudent or reasonable manner in any particular transaction. Nevertheless, this practice is intended to reflect good commercial and customary practice. (See 1.5.)  
4.2 Clarifications on Use:  
4.2.1 Use Not Limited to CERCLA—This practice is designed to assist the user in developing information about the environmental condition of a subject property and as such, has utility for a wide range of persons, including those who may have no actual or potential CERCLA liability and/or may not be seeking the LLPs.  
4.2.2 Residential Occupants/Lessees/Purchasers and Others—No implication is intended that it is currently customary practice for residential occupants/lessees of multifamily residential buildings, occupants/lessees of single-family homes or other residential real estate, or purchasers of dwellings for one's own residential use, to conduct an environmental site assessment in connection with these transactions. Thus, these transactions are not included in the term forestland or rural property transactions, and it is not intended to imply that such persons are obligated to conduct an environmental site assessment in connection with these transactions for purposes of all appropriate inquiries or for any other purpose.  
4.2.3 Site-specific—This practice is site-specific in tha...
SCOPE
1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this practice is to provide an alternative method to ASTM E1527 for good commercial and customary practices in the United States of America for conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment2 of forestland or rural property with respect to the range of contaminants within the scope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and petroleum products. As such, this practice is intended to permit a user to satisfy one of the requirements to qualify for the innocent landowner, contiguous property owner, or bona fide prospective purchaser limitations on CERCLA liability (hereinafter, the “landowner liability protections,” or “LLPs”): that is, the practice that constitutes “all appropriate inquiries” into the previous ownership and uses of a property consistent with good commercial and customary standards and practices as defined at 42 U.S.C. §9601(35)(B). (See Appendix X1 for an outline of CERCLA's liability and defense provisions.) Controlled substances are not included within the scope of this standard. Persons conducting an environmental site assessment as part of an EPA Brownfields Assessment and Characterization Grant awarded under CERCLA 42 U.S.C. §9604(k)(2)(B) must include controlled substances as defined in the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §802) within the scope of the assessment investigations to the extent directed in the terms and conditions of the specific grant or cooperative agreement. Additionally, an evaluation of business environmental risk (BER) associated with a parcel of commercial real estate may necessitate investigation beyond that identified in this practice (see 1.4 and Section 13).  
1.1.1 Standard Practice Selection—The methodology included in this practice is an effective and practical process for achieving the objectives of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment of forestland or rural property when some of the metho...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Intended Use-This guide may be used by various parties involved in sediment corrective action programs, including regulatory agencies, project sponsors, environmental consultants, toxicologists, risk assessors, site remediation professionals, environmental contractors, and other stakeholders.  
4.2 Importance of the CSM-The CSM should be continuously updated and refined to describe the physical properties, chemical composition and occurrence, biologic features, and environmental conditions of the sediment corrective action project (Guide E1689).  
4.3 Reference Material-This guide should be used in conjunction with other ASTM guides listed in 2.1 (especially Guides E3242 and E3382); this guide should also be used in conjunction with the material in the References at the end of this guide (including 3). Utilizing these reference materials will direct the user in developing representative sediment background concentrations.  
4.4 Flexible Site-Specific Implementation-This guide provides a systematic but flexible framework to accommodate variations in approaches by regulatory agencies and by the user based on project objectives, site complexity, unique site features, regulatory requirements, newly developed guidance, newly published scientific research, changes in regulatory criteria, advances in scientific knowledge and technical capability, and unforeseen circumstances.  
4.5 Regulatory Frameworks-This guide is intended to be applicable at a broad range of local, state, tribal, federal (such as CERCLA), or international jurisdictions, each with its own unique regulatory framework. As such, this guide does not provide a detailed discussion of the requirements or guidance associated with any of these regulatory frameworks, nor is it intended to supplant applicable regulations and guidance. The user of this guide will need to be aware of the regulatory requirements and guidance in the jurisdiction where the work is being performed.  
4.6 Systematic Project Plan...
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1.1 This guide focuses on the selection of sediment background reference areas from aquatic environments for the purpose of developing representative sediment background concentrations. These concentrations are typically used in contaminated sediment corrective actions performed under various regulatory programs, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Although many of the references cited in this guide are CERCLA-oriented, the guide is applicable to remedial actions performed under local, state, tribal, federal, and international cleanup programs. However, this guide does not describe the requirements for each jurisdiction.  
1.1.1 The sediment background reference areas chosen using this guide will need to be approved by the regulatory agency having jurisdiction (or they should take no exception to the areas chosen), especially if the representative background sediment concentrations will potentially be used to develop sediment remedial criteria.  
1.2 This guide provides a framework to select appropriate sediment background reference areas for the collection of sediment data in the development of representative sediment background concentrations. It is intended to inform, complement, and support, but not supersede, local, state, tribal, federal, or international guidelines.  
1.2.1 This guide is designed to apply to contaminated sediment sites where sediment data have been collected and are readily available. Additionally, it assumes that risk assessments have been performed, so that the potential contaminants of concern (PCOCs) that exceed risk-based thresholds have been identified. This guide can be applied at multiple points within the project life cycle (such as site assessment and remedial design).  
1.2.2 Furthermore, this guide presumes that the identified risk-based thresholds are low enough to pose corrective action implementation challenges or that th...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This guide may be used in the investigation of underground storage tank systems for equipment problems in a wide variety of applications. Use of this guide is voluntary. It is intended to assist users who want to investigate equipment failures, malfunctions, and other potential causes of suspected releases.  
4.2 The following groups of users may find the guide particularly helpful:  
4.2.1 Storage tank system designers and manufacturers;  
4.2.2 Storage tank installers, testers, and inspectors;  
4.2.3 Storage tank maintenance contractors;  
4.2.4 Storage tank removal contractors;  
4.2.5 Federal, state, tribal or local regulators, including departments of health, departments of environmental protection, and fire departments;  
4.2.6 Petroleum release remediation professionals;  
4.2.7 Insurance adjusters;  
4.2.8 Storage tank owners and operators;  
4.2.9 Consultants, auditors, and compliance assistance personnel.  
4.3 This guide is intended to assist in the development of protocols for determination of source and cause of a release and the investigation of a malfunction or failure of any component of a UST system and the implementation of said protocols. This guide outlines steps that may be necessary and include, but are not limited to initial evaluation of the UST system to determine if there has been a component failure preparation of samples of failed or compromised equipment for laboratory analysis; visual; and analytical evaluation of release indications; and documentation of the investigation. The guide provides a series of investigation options from which the user may design failure investigation protocols. The guide describes common investigation techniques in the order in which they might be employed in an investigation.  
4.4 A user may elect to utilize this guide for a number of reasons, which include, but are not limited to:  
4.4.1 To differentiate new releases from new discovery of old releases;  
4.4.2 To establish malfunction ...
SCOPE
1.1 Overview—This guide is an organized collection of information and series of options for industry, regulators, consultants and the public, intended to assist with the development of investigation protocols for underground storage tank facilities in the United States. While the guide does not recommend a specific course of action, it establishes an investigation framework, and it provides a series of techniques that may be employed to: identify equipment problems; in some cases collect and preserve failed equipment for forensic evaluation or laboratory analysis; identify the source of a release; and document the investigation. The guide includes information on methods of investigation, documentation, collecting and preserving samples; chain of custody; storage; shipping; working with equipment manufacturers; and notification of regulators and listing laboratories. The goal in using the guide is to identify the appropriate level of investigation and to gather and preserve information, in an organized manner, which could be used in the future to improve system design or performance. While this guide may act as a starting point for users with limited experience in failure investigation, the user is encouraged to consult with failure analysis experts for specific investigation procedures that may be needed for certain equipment and the investigation should be conducted by a qualified professional. As users develop their specific investigation protocols, they may find that the investigations can be streamlined for certain types of facilities.  
1.2 Limitations of This Guide:  
1.2.1 Given the variability of the different investigators that may wish to use this guide and the different types of facilities and failures that will be investigated, it is not possible to address all the relevant standards that might apply to a particular investigation. This guide uses generalized language and examples to guide the user. If it i...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Several different factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating methane hazard, rather than, for example, use of a single concentration-based screening level as a de-facto hazard assessment level. Key variables are identified and briefly discussed in this section. Legal background information is provided in Appendix X3. The Bibliography includes references where more detailed information can be found on the effect of various parameters on gas concentrations.  
5.2 Application—This guide is intended for use by those undertaking an assessment of hazards to people and property as a result of subsurface methane suspected to be present based on due diligence or other site evaluations (see 6.1.1).  
5.2.1 This guide addresses shallow methane, including its presence in the vadose zone; at residential, commercial, and industrial sites with existing construction; or where development is proposed.  
5.3 This guide provides a consistent, streamlined process for deciding on action and the urgency of action for the identified hazard. Advantages include:  
5.3.1 Decisions are based on reducing the actual risk of adverse impacts to people and property.  
5.3.2 Assessment is based on collecting only the information that is necessary to evaluate hazard.  
5.3.3 Available resources are focused on those sites and conditions that pose the greatest risk to people and property at any time.  
5.3.4 Response actions are chosen based on the existence of a hazard and are designed to mitigate the hazard and reduce risk to an acceptable level.  
5.3.5 The urgency of initial response to an identified hazard is commensurate with its potential adverse impact to people and property.  
5.4 Limitations—This guide does not address potential hazards from other gases and vapors that may also be present in the subsurface such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and/or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may co-occur with methane. If the presence of hydrogen sulfide or other...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a consistent basis for assessing methane in the vadose zone, evaluating hazard and risk, determining the appropriate response, and identifying the urgency of the response.  
1.2 Purpose—This guide covers techniques for evaluating potential hazards associated with methane present in the vadose zone beneath or near existing or proposed buildings or other structures (for example, potential fires or explosions within the buildings or structures), when such hazards are suspected to be present based on due diligence or other site evaluations (see 6.1.1). Buildings in this context include normal below grade utilities associated with a building.  
1.3 Objectives—This guide: (1) provides a practical and reasonable industry standard for evaluating, prioritizing, and addressing potential methane hazards based on mass flow and (2) provides a tool for screening out low-risk sites.  
1.4 This guide offers a set of instructions for performing one or more specific operations. This guide cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this guide may be applicable in all circumstances. This guide is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service should be judged, nor should this guide be applied without consideration of a project's many unique aspects. The word “Standard” in the title means only that the guide has been approved through the ASTM International consensus process.  
1.5 Not addressed by this guide are:  
1.5.1 Requirements or guidance or both with respect to methane sampling or evaluation in federal, state, or local regulations. Users are cautioned that federal, state, and local guidance may impose specific requirements that differ from those of this guide;  
1.5.2 Safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this sta...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The purpose of this guide is to provide a logical, tiered approach in the development of environmental health criteria coincident with level and effort in the research, development, testing, and evaluation of new materials for military use. Various levels of uncertainty are associated with data collected from previous stages. Following the recommendation in the guide should reduce the relative uncertainty of the data collected at each developmental stage. At each stage, a general weight of evidence qualifier shall accompany each exposure/effect relationship. They may be simple (for example, low, medium, or high confidence) or sophisticated using a numerical value for each predictor as a multiplier to ascertain relative confidence in each step of risk characterization. The specific method used will depend on the stage of development, quantity and availability of data, variation in the measurement, and general knowledge of the dataset. Since specific formulations, conditions, and use scenarios may not be known until the later stages, exposure estimates can be determined when practical (for example, Engineering and Manufacturing Development; see 6.6). Exposure data can then be used with other toxicological data collected from previous stages in a quantitative risk assessment to determine the relative degree of hazard.  
5.2 Data developed from the use of this guide are designed to be consistent with criteria required in weapons and weapons system development (for example, programmatic environment, safety and occupational health evaluations, environmental assessments/environmental impact statements, toxicity clearances, and technical data sheets).  
5.3 Information shall be evaluated in a flexible manner consistent with the needs of the authorizing program. This requires proper characterization of the current problem. For example, compounds may be ranked relative to the environmental criteria of the prospective alternatives, the replacement compound, and within bo...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide is intended to determine the relative environmental influence of new substances, consistent with the research and development (R&D) level of effort and is intended to be applied in a logical, tiered manner that parallels both the available funding and the stage of research, development, testing, and evaluation. Specifically, conservative assumptions, relationships, and models are recommended early in the research stage, and as the technology is matured, empirical data will be developed and used. Munition constituents are included and may include propellants, oxidizers, explosives, binders, stabilizers, metals, dyes, and other compounds used in the formulation to produce a desired effect. Munition systems range from projectiles, grenades, rockets/missiles, training simulators, to smokes and obscurants. Given the complexity of issues involved in the assessment of environmental fate and effects and the diversity of the systems used, this guide is broad in scope and not intended to address every factor that may be important in an environmental context. Rather, it is intended to reduce uncertainty at minimal cost by considering the most important factors related to human health and environmental impacts of energetic materials. This guide provides an outline for collecting data useful in a relative ranking procedure to provide the systems scientist with a sound basis for prospectively determining a selection of candidates based on environmental and human health criteria. The general principles in this guide are applicable to substances other than energetics if intended to be used in a similar manner with similar exposure profiles.  
1.2 The scope of this guide includes:  
1.2.1 Energetic and other new/novel materials and compositions in all stages of research, development, test and evaluation.  
1.2.2 Environmental assessment, including:
1.2.2.1 Human and ecological effects of the unexploded energetics and ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 An important goal of aquatic toxicology is to determine the effects of toxic compounds on species that play a central role in aquatic communities. Rotifers have a major impact on several important ecological processes in freshwater and coastal marine environments. As filter-feeders on phytoplankton and bacteria, rotifers exert substantial grazing pressure that at times exceeds that of the larger crustacean zooplankton  (1, 2).4 Rotifer grazing on phytoplankton is highly selective (2-4) and can influence phytoplankton composition, the coexistence of competitors, and overall water quality (5). The contribution of rotifers to the secondary production of many aquatic communities is substantial (6-9). In fresh water, rotifers often account for the major fraction of zooplankton biomass at certain times of the year (10, 11) . Rotifers and other zooplankton are a significant food source for many larval fish, planktivorous adult fish (12, 13), and several invertebrate predators (14-16). The high metabolic rates of rotifers contribute to their role in nutrient cycling, which might make rotifers more important than crustaceans in certain communities (17, 18).  
5.2 In addition to their important ecological role in aquatic communities, rotifers are attractive organisms for toxicological studies because an extensive database exists on the basic biology of this group. Techniques have been published for the culture of many rotifer species (3, 19). The rotifer life cycle is well defined (20, 21), and the factors regulating it are reasonably well understood (22-25). Several aspects of rotifer behavior have been examined closely (26-29). The biogeography of many rotifer species has been characterized (30, 31), and the systematics of the group are well described (32, 33).  
5.3 Toxicity tests with rotifers of the genus Brachionus are more easily performed than with many other aquatic animals because of their rapid reproduction, short generation times, sensitivity (34), and the c...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide describes procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the acute toxicity of chemicals and aqueous effluents released into fresh, estuarine or marine waters. Acute toxicity is measured by exposing  Brachionus  newly hatched from cysts to a series of toxicant concentrations under controlled conditions. This guide describes a test for using  B. calyciflorus, a freshwater rotifer, and the Appendix describes modifications of this test for estuarine and marine waters using  B. plicatilis. These procedures lead to an estimation of acute toxicity, including the concentration expected to kill 50 % of the test rotifers (LC50) in 24 h. Procedures not specifically stated in this guide should be conducted in accordance with Guide E729 and Guide E1192.  
1.2 Modifications of these procedures might be justified by special needs or circumstances. Although using appropriate procedures is more important than following prescribed procedures, the results of tests conducted using modified procedures might not be comparable to rotifer acute tests that follow the protocol described here. Comparison of the results using modified procedures might provide useful information concerning new concepts and procedures for conducting acute toxicity tests on chemicals and aqueous effluents.  
1.3 This guide is organized as follows:    
Section    
Scope  
1    
Referenced Documents  
2    
Terminology  
3    
Summary of Guide  
4    
Significance and Use  
5    
Apparatus  
6    
Dilution Water  
7    
Hazards  
8    
Test Material  
9    
Test Organisms  
10    
Test Procedure  
11    
Calculation of Results  
12    
Acceptability of the Test  
13    
Report  
14    
Keywords  
15  
1.4 These procedures are applicable to most chemicals, either individually or in formulations, commercial products, or mixtures. This guide can also be used to investigate the effects on rotifer su...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 PFAS are widely used in commercial and industrial applications worldwide (see Fig. 1). PFAS are of concern due to their documented persistence and their studied impacts on human health and the environmental. While there is no comprehensive source of information on the many individual PFAS substances and their functions in different applications, a range of resources are available to the practitioner. This guide provides information to assist the practitioner in navigating these challenges during the initial screening and site characterization process.
FIG. 1 Activity/Industry that may be Sources of PFAS Use and Release
Source: AEI Consultants  
4.2 The user should note that PFAS regulatory management framework at the federal and state level are evolving quickly. Therefore, consultation with legal and technical representatives with knowledge of federal, state, and local PFAS regulations is advised prior to use of this guide. Environmental audit policies or privileges may be applicable to some of the steps described in this guide (see EPA, 2000).  
4.3 Multi-step Risk Management Framework:  
4.3.1 The actions described in this guide are intended to provide a multi-step risk management framework to confirm, with reasonable certainty, that PFAS may have been used at a federally-owned, publicly-owned, or privately-owned property. This standard provides guidance on how to focus limited resources on using a multi-step process, illustrated in Fig. 2, to identify property potentially impacted by on-site or off-site uses and releases of PFAS. Section 4.5 describes the use and occurrence of PFAS. Section 4.6 describes activities at government and federal installations where PFAS use is expected. Section 4.7 broadly outlines the industry sectors where the use of PFAS has been documented (Glüge, 2020 (2), Gaines, 2022 (3)).
FIG. 2 Initial Site Screening and Characterization Flow Diagram  
4.4 PFAs History and Use:  
4.4.1 In the 1940s, industrial processes to co...
SCOPE
1.1 Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 7,000 manmade compounds consisting of polymeric chains of carbon bonded to fluorine atoms, usually with a polar functional group at the head. This guide recognizes that PFAS can be categorized as polymeric or nonpolymeric, collectively amounting to more than 4,700 Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)-registered substances. Environmental concerns pertaining to PFAS are centered primarily on the perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), a subclass of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which display extreme persistence and chain-length dependent bioaccumulation and adverse effects in biota.  
1.2 The regulatory framework for PFAS continues to evolve, both domestically and internationally. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proceeding with a wide-ranging set of PFAS regulatory actions (EPA, 2021). While the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not currently recognize PFAS as hazardous substances, the statute does require actions to protect public health and the environment from contaminants and pollutants released to the environment. Other federal regulatory programs, such as the Safe Drinking Water Act are being used to address drinking water supplies adversely impacted by releases of PFAS. The Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program is tool that both federal and state regulators are using to regulate the inflows of PFAS-impacted wastewaters at both publicly-owned treatment works (POTW) and federally-owned wastewater treatment plants and the concentration of PFAS in permitted effluent. EPA continues to add additional per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the list of substances reportable under the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting program. International efforts to address per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances include Australia’s PFAS Nation...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Intended Users:  
4.1.1 This guide may be used by various parties involved in sediment corrective action programs, including regulatory agencies, project sponsors, environmental consultants, toxicologists, risk assessors, site remediation professionals, environmental contractors, and other stakeholders.  
4.2 Reference Material:  
4.2.1 This guide should be used in conjunction with other ASTM guides listed in 2.1 (especially Guides E3163, E3240, E3242, E3344 and E3382), as well as the material in the References section.  
4.3 Flexible Site-Specific Implementation:  
4.3.1 This guide provides a systematic but flexible framework to accommodate variations in approaches by regulatory agencies and by the user based on project objectives, site complexity, unique site features, regulatory requirements, newly developed guidance, newly published scientific research, changes in regulatory criteria, advances in scientific knowledge and technical capability, and unforeseen circumstances.
4.3.1.1 This guide provides a monitoring plan development, execution and analysis framework based on over-arching features and elements that should be customized by the user based on site-specific conditions, regulatory context, and sediment corrective action objectives.
4.3.1.2 Implementation of the guide is site-specific. The user may choose to customize the implementation of the guide for a particular site, especially smaller, less complex sites.
4.3.1.3 This guide should not be used alone as a prescriptive checklist.  
4.3.2 The users of this guide are encouraged to update and refine (when needed) the conceptual site model, Project Work Plans and Project Reports used to describe the physical properties, chemical composition and occurrence, biologic features, and environmental conditions of the sediment corrective action project.  
4.4 Regulatory Frameworks:  
4.4.1 This guide is intended to be applicable to a broad range of local, state, tribal, federal, or internation...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide pertains to corrective action monitoring before (baseline monitoring), during (remedy implementation monitoring) and after (post-remedy monitoring) sediment remedial activities. It does not address monitoring performed during remedial investigations, pre-remedial risk assessments, and pre-design investigations.  
1.2 Sediment monitoring programs (baseline, remedy implementation and post-remedy) are typically used in contaminated sediment corrective actions performed under various regulatory programs, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Although many of the references cited in this guide are CERCLA-oriented, the guide is applicable to corrective actions performed under local, state, tribal, federal, and international corrective action programs. However, this guide does not provide a detailed description of the monitoring program requirements or existing guidance for each jurisdiction. This guide is intended to inform, complement, and support but not supersede the guidelines established by local, state, tribal, federal, or international agencies.  
1.3 This guide provides a framework, which includes widely accepted considerations and best practices for monitoring sediment remedy efficacy.  
1.4 This guide is related to several other guides. Guide E3240 provides an overview of the sediment risk-based corrective action (RBCA) process, including the role of risk assessment and representative background. Guide E3163 discusses appropriate laboratory methodologies to use for the chemical analysis of potential contaminants of concern (PCOCs) in various media (such as, sediment, porewater, surface water and biota tissue) taken during sediment monitoring programs; it also discusses biological testing and community assessment. Guide E3382 describes the overall framework to determine representative background concentrations (including Conceptual Site Model [C...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Purpose—This guide provides a process for characterization of existing CCPs placed in active and inactive storage area(s) to assist in potential harvesting strategies. In this guide, information on the following activities required for the safe and effective characterization of CCPs from storage area(s) is included: (1) available site characterization information inventory/review, (2) available end use(s) information inventory/review, (3) end use(s) and level of confidence (Tiers I, II, and III) related to the CCP characterization selected and RDM; (4)CCP characterization plan development; and (5) CCP storage area(s) characterization report. More detailed descriptions of these activities are in Sections 6 – 10.  
4.2 Potential Beneficial Use(s) of CCPs—There are many CCP storage area(s) that are potentially harvestable and can provide a functional benefit. The beneficial use of CCPs contained in these storage area(s) can have significant environmental and economic benefits for the user and can significantly reduce disposal operations (1-4).9 Beneficial use of CCPs can provide industry with a safe and responsible way to manage the CCPs economically, while promoting conservation and recycling, meeting sustainability goals, and addressing the shortage of CCPs in some building product market areas (1, 2, 5). CCPs consist of fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, FBC ash, economizer ash, and FGD material. End use(s) may include cement/concrete, light aggregate, flowable fill, controlled or structural fill, road base/subbase, soil amendment, waste stabilization/solidification, agriculture, grout, mineral filler, snow/ice traction control, blasting grit/abrasives, roofing granules, mining application, gypsum panel, and others (see Terminology E2201 for definitions of CCPs) (Sections 6 and 7).  
4.2.1 Fly ash is the most abundant CCP in existing storage area(s). Its beneficial uses include, but are not limited to, partial replacement for cement in concrete and concrete pro...
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1.1 This guide provides a framework to characterize coal combustion products (CCPs) situated in active or inactive storage units for potential harvesting and beneficial use and may be considered a companion standard to Guide E3183.  
1.2 A framework is provided in this guide to address critical aspects related to the characterization of CCPs placed in active (operational) and inactive storage of (closed or no longer receiving CCPs) storage area(s). These storage area(s) may be used for wet or dry CCPs.  
1.3 This guide does not include information on how to determine what storage area(s) or facilities should be selected for potential characterization of CCPs as each entity may approach a characterization program in accordance with their own intent and regulatory requirements. In addition, it does not include information on how the user should evaluate inventories to determine the order of their storage area(s) for potential characterization including consideration of risk, performance, and cost. This guide for potential harvesting for beneficial use is intended to be used to evaluate the storage area(s) once the storage area(s) are selected for evaluation.  
1.4 This guide does not include information on the permitting that may be required to implement CCP characterization activities or may be associated with the processing or end use(s). Therefore, additional approvals not discussed within this guide may be needed.  
1.5 This guide is intended to help characterize CCPs that may be harvested while gaining understanding of their homogeneity within a given wet or dry storage area.  
1.6 The CCPs that may be characterized include fly ash, bottom ash, and economizer ash; boiler slag; flue gas desulfurization material; fluidized bed combustion products as defined in Terminology E2201; cenospheres; or other materials suitable for beneficial use.  
1.7 Laws and approval requirements governing the use of CCPs vary by local...

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1.1 This terminology document defines terms commonly used in standards developed by ASTM Subcommittee E50.47 on Biological Effects and Environmental Fate. This terminology document is intended to be consistent with the use of terms in ASTM standards related to this field and, to the extent possible, with use by other organizations.  
1.1.1 If a specific Subcommittee E50.47 standard uses one of these terms in a different context, then the term should be defined in that standard. A term used only in a specific ASTM standard need not be included in this terminology document.  
1.2 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 A microcosm test is conducted to obtain information concerning toxicity or other effects of a test material on the interactions among three trophic levels (primary, secondary, and detrital) and the competitive interactions within each trophic level. As with most natural aquatic ecosystems, the microcosms depend upon algal production (primary production) to support the grazer trophic level (secondary production), which along with the microbial community are primarily responsible for the nutrient recycling necessary to sustain primary production. Microcosm initial condition includes some detritus (chitin and cellulose) and additional detritus is produced by the system. The microcosms include ecologically important processes and organisms representative of ponds and lakes, but are non-site specific. To the extent possible, all solutions are mixtures of distilled water and reagent grade chemicals (see Section 8) and all organisms are available in commercial culture collections.  
5.2 The species used are easy to culture in the laboratory and some are routinely used for single species toxicity tests (Guide E729; Practice D3978, Guides E1192 and E1193). Presumably acute toxicity test results with some of these species would be available prior to the decision to undertake the microcosm test. If available, single species toxicity results would aid in distinguishing between indirect and direct effects.  
5.3 These procedures are based mostly on published methods (4-6), interlaboratory testing (7-10, 11), intermediate studies (12-23, 24), statistical studies  (25-27) and mathematical simulation results  (28). Newer studies on jet fuels have been reported (29)(See 15.1 for multivariate statistical analyses) and on the implications of multispecies testing for pesticide registration (30). Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) published similar microcosm tests (31). The methods described here were used to determine the criteria for A...
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1.1 This practice covers procedures for obtaining data concerning toxicity and other effects of a test material to a multi-trophic level freshwater community, independent of the location of the test.  
1.2 These procedures also might be useful for studying the fate of test materials and transformation products, although modifications and additional analytical procedures might be necessary.  
1.3 Modification of these procedures might be justified by special needs or circumstances. Although using appropriate procedures is more important than following prescribed procedures, results of tests conducted using unusual procedures are not likely to be comparable to results of many other tests. Comparison of results obtained using modified and unmodified versions of these procedures might provide useful information concerning new concepts and procedures for conducting multi-trophic level tests.  
1.4 This practice is arranged as follows:    
Section  
Referenced Documents  
2  
Terminology  
3  
Summary of Practice  
4  
Significance and Use  
5  
Apparatus  
6  
Facilities  
6.1  
Container  
6.2  
Equipment  
6.3  
Hazards  
7  
Microcosm Components  
8  
Medium  
8.1  
Medium Preparation  
8.2  
Sediment  
8.3  
Microcosm Assembly  
8.4  
Test Material  
9  
General  
9.1  
Stock Solution  
9.2  
Nutrient Control  
9.3  
Test Organisms  
10  
Algae  
10.1  
Animals  
10.2  
Specificity of Organisms  
10.3  
Sources  
10.4  
Algal Culture Maintenance  
10.5  
Animal Culture Maintenance  
10.6  
Procedure  
11  
Experimental Design  
11.1  
Inoculation  
11.2  
Culling  
11.3  
Addition of Test Material  
11.4  
Measurements  
11.5  
Reinoculations  
11.6  
Analytical Methodology  
12  
Data Processing  
13  
Calculations of Variables from Measurements  
14  
Statistical Analyses ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Lead can enter drinking water when service lines or plumbing fixtures that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content. According to the EPA, lead typically enters school drinking water as a result of interaction with lead-containing plumbing materials and fixtures within the building (EPA 2019 EPA 2018, (5)). Although lead pipes and lead solder were not commonly used after 1986, water fountains and other fixtures were allowed to have up to 8 percent lead until 2014 (GAO, 2018 (2)). Consequently, both older and newer school buildings can have lead in drinking water at concentrations that exceed the NPDWR.  
4.2 Following the reports in 2015 of elevated lead levels in the water in Flint, Michigan, Congress passed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act in 2016 (Public Law 114-322), which, among other things, amended the SDWA, to establish a grant program for states to assist school districts in voluntary testing for lead contamination in drinking water at schools. As a condition of receiving funds, school districts are required to test for lead using standards that are at least as stringent as those in federal guidance for schools.  
4.3 California’s State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water initiated an aggressive program of sampling and public water systems supplying water to schools in 2018. California Assembly Bill 746 published on October 12, 2017, effective January 1, 2018, requires community water systems to test lead levels, by July 1, 2019, in drinking water at all California public, K-12 school sites that were constructed before January 1, 2010.  
4.4 Lobo (2021) (6) reports that two factors predominantly control lead leaching into the drinking water: (1) the presence or absence of lead-bearing plumbing materials, and (2) water quality that promotes the formation of soluble or insoluble lead corrosion products. This guide provides a method of using publicly-available...
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1.1 As the General Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2018 (2), the discovery of toxic levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan in 2015 renewed awareness about the risks that lead poses to public health. Exposure to lead can result in elevated blood lead levels and negative health effects. Children are at particular risk, because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults, so protecting them from lead is important to lifelong good health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elevated blood lead levels have been linked to anemia, kidney and brain damage, learning disabilities, and decreased growth. As a result of widespread human use, lead is prevalent in the environment; for example, it can be found in paint (lead in paint was banned in the United States in 1978)4 and soil, and can leach into drinking water from lead-containing plumbing materials, such as faucets and drinking fountains.  
1.2 Lead in school drinking water is a concern because it is a daily source of water for over 50 million children enrolled in public schools. The pattern of school schedules—including time off over weekends, holidays, and extended breaks—can contribute to standing water in the school’s plumbing system. If there is lead in the plumbing system, the potential for it to leach into water can increase the longer the water remains in contact with the plumbing. Estimating the risk of lead contamination of schools' drinking water at the State level is a complex and important challenge. Variable water quality among water systems and changes in water chemistry during distribution affect lead dissolution rates from pipes and fittings. In addition, the locations of lead-bearing plumbing materials are uncertain. EPA, 2002 (3), Triantafyllidou and Edwards, 2012 (4).  
1.3 The US EPA is responsible for enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) on Tribal land; there is no delegation of this ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Intended Use:  
4.1.1 This guide may be used by various parties involved in sediment corrective action programs, including regulatory agencies, project sponsors, environmental consultants, toxicologists, risk assessors, site remediation professionals, environmental contractors, and other stakeholders.  
4.2 Updates to CSM:  
4.2.1 The CSM should be updated as needed and refined to describe the physical properties, chemical composition and occurrence, biological features, and environmental conditions of the sediment corrective action project (Guide E1689).  
4.3 Reference Material:  
4.3.1 This guide should be used in conjunction with other ASTM guides listed in 2.1 (especially Guides E3163, E3164, E3240, E3242, and E3344), as well as the material in the References section (including (1)).  
4.4 Flexible Site-Specific Implementation:  
4.4.1 This guide provides a systematic but flexible framework to accommodate variations in approaches by regulatory agencies and by the user based on project objectives, site complexity, unique site features, regulatory requirements, newly developed guidance, newly published scientific research, changes in regulatory criteria, advances in scientific knowledge and technical capability, and unforeseen circumstances.  
4.5 Regulatory Frameworks:  
4.5.1 This guide is intended to be applicable to a broad range of local, state, tribal, federal, or international jurisdictions, each with its own unique regulatory framework. As such, this guide does not provide a detailed discussion of the requirements or guidance associated with any of these regulatory frameworks, nor is it intended to supplant applicable regulations and guidance. The user of this guide will need to be aware of the regulatory requirements and guidance in the jurisdiction where the work is being performed.  
4.6 Systematic Project Planning and Scoping Process:  
4.6.1 When applying this guide, the user should undertake a systematic project planning and sco...
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1.1 This guide provides an overarching framework for the development of representative sediment background concentrations at contaminated sediment sites. It is intended to inform, complement, and support but not supersede the guidelines established by local, state, tribal, federal, or international agencies.  
1.2 Technically defensible representative sediment background concentrations are critical for several purposes (Guide E3242) (1)2. These include sediment site delineation, establishing remedial goals, remedy selection, assessment of risks posed by representative background concentrations, and establishing appropriate post-remedial monitoring plans.  
1.3 As part of the overall framework presented in this guide, Guide E3240 provides a general discussion of how Conceptual Site Model (CSM) development fits into the risk-based corrective action framework for contaminated sediment sites. However, not all elements of a sediment CSM need to be considered when developing representative sediment background concentrations; those that do are discussed in detail in Section 7 of this guide.  
1.3.1 As additional data are collected and analyzed, the CSM should be updated as needed.  
1.3.2 This guide is related to several other guides. Guide E3344 describes how to select an appropriate background reference area(s). Guide E3164 covers the sampling methodologies used in the field to obtain sediment samples (whether from the sediment site or background reference area[s]), and Guide E3163 discusses appropriate laboratory methodologies to use for the chemical analysis of potential contaminants of concern (PCOCs) in sediment samples. Guide E3242 describes how to evaluate candidate background data to obtain representative background data sets (including statistical, geochemical, and forensic considerations) and then how to use them to calculate representative sediment background concentrations. Relevant content contained in Guides ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Use—This guide is intended for use on a voluntary basis by parties who wish to obtain a limited survey of commercial real estate to assess for readily observable moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture as part of a commercial real estate transaction or commercial property management. This guide is intended to constitute a limited inquiry using representative observations for the purposes of conducting due diligence regarding the actual and potential presence of readily observable moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture in connection with the subject property. Inquiries that are more and less comprehensive than this guide (including, in some instances, no inquiry) may be appropriate in some circumstances in the opinion of the user (for example, when the presence of moisture affected materials is known to the user). Furthermore, no implication is intended that a person must use this guide in order to be deemed to have conducted appropriate inquiry in a commercially prudent or reasonable manner in a particular transaction. Nevertheless, this guide is intended to reflect a commercially prudent and reasonable inquiry. However, a LMA is not intended to serve as a comprehensive survey for the presence of readily observable moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture in all or most of the building systems throughout a commercial building.  
4.2 Clarification of Use:  
4.2.1 Specific Point in Time—Because conditions conducive to elevated moisture in a building can vary greatly over time due to changes in weather, interior air handling and conditioning, occupancy, and so forth, a user should only rely on the results presented in the report for the point in time at which the LMA was conducted.  
4.2.2 Site-Specific—This guide is site-specific in that it relates to assessment of readily observable moisture affected materials and physical def...
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1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this guide2 is to define good commercial practice for conducting a limited survey for readily observable moisture affected materials and conditions conducive to elevated moisture in a commercial building related to commercial real estate transaction or commercial real estate management by conducting: a walk-through survey, document reviews, and interviews as outlined within this guide. This guide is intended to provide a practical means for the limited identification of moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture caused by water infiltration through the building envelope or substructure or generated within the subject building as a result of processes or mechanical systems, excluding de minimis conditions. This guide is to allow a user to assess general moisture concerns, as well as the potential need for further assessment or other actions that may be appropriate that are beyond the scope of this guide. For purposes of this guide, the initialism “LMA” or “Limited Moisture Assessment” is used interchangeably with this guide’s full title.  
1.2 Purpose Limitations—While a LMA may be used to survey for readily identifiable moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture, the LMA is not designed to serve as comprehensive survey for the presence of moisture affected materials and physical deficiencies conducive to elevated moisture in all or most areas in a commercial building. It is not intended to reduce or eliminate the risks that elevated moisture may pose to the subject building or its occupants.  
1.3 Considerations Beyond This Scope—The use of this guide is limited to the scope set forth in this section. Section 12 of this guide identifies, for informational purposes, certain physical conditions (not an all-inclusive list) that may exist at a subject property and certain activities or procedures (not an all-inclu...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 General:  
5.1.1 Sediment provides habitat for many aquatic organisms and is a major repository for many of the more persistent chemicals that are introduced into surface waters. In the aquatic environment, most anthropogenic chemicals and waste materials including toxic organic and inorganic chemicals eventually accumulate in sediment. Mounting evidences exists of environmental degradation in areas where USEPA Water Quality Criteria (WQC; Stephan et al.(66)) are not exceeded, yet organisms in or near sediments are adversely affected Chapman, 1989  (67). The WQC were developed to protect organisms in the water column and were not directed toward protecting organisms in sediment. Concentrations of contaminants in sediment may be several orders of magnitude higher than in the overlying water; however, whole sediment concentrations have not been strongly correlated to bioavailability Burton, 1991 (68). Partitioning or sorption of a compound between water and sediment may depend on many factors including: aqueous solubility, pH, redox, affinity for sediment organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon, grain size of the sediment, sediment mineral constituents (oxides of iron, manganese, and aluminum), and the quantity of acid volatile sulfides in sediment Di Toro et al. 1991(69) Giesy et al. 1988 (70). Although certain chemicals are highly sorbed to sediment, these compounds may still be available to the biota. Chemicals in sediments may be directly toxic to aquatic life or can be a source of chemicals for bioaccumulation in the food chain.  
5.1.2 The objective of a sediment test is to determine whether chemicals in sediment are harmful to or are bioaccumulated by benthic organisms. The tests can be used to measure interactive toxic effects of complex chemical mixtures in sediment. Furthermore, knowledge of specific pathways of interactions among sediments and test organisms is not necessary to conduct the tests Kemp et al. 1988, (71). Sediment tests can be used ...
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1.1 This test method covers procedures for testing estuarine or marine organisms in the laboratory to evaluate the toxicity of contaminants associated with whole sediments. Sediments may be collected from the field or spiked with compounds in the laboratory. General guidance is presented in Sections 1 – 15 for conducting sediment toxicity tests with estuarine or marine amphipods. Specific guidance for conducting 10-d sediment toxicity tests with estuarine or marine amphipods is outlined in Annex A1 and specific guidance for conducting 28-d sediment toxicity tests with  Leptocheirus plumulosus is outlined in Annex A2.  
1.2 Procedures are described for testing estuarine or marine amphipod crustaceans in 10-d laboratory exposures to evaluate the toxicity of contaminants associated with whole sediments (Annex A1; USEPA 1994a (1)). Sediments may be collected from the field or spiked with compounds in the laboratory. A toxicity method is outlined for four species of estuarine or marine sediment-burrowing amphipods found within United States coastal waters. The species are Ampelisca abdita, a marine species that inhabits marine and mesohaline portions of the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and San Francisco Bay; Eohaustorius estuarius, a Pacific coast estuarine species; Leptocheirus plumulosus, an Atlantic coast estuarine species; and Rhepoxynius abronius , a Pacific coast marine species. Generally, the method described may be applied to all four species, although acclimation procedures and some test conditions (that is, temperature and salinity) will be species-specific (Sections 12 and Annex A1). The toxicity test is conducted in 1-L glass chambers containing 175 mL of sediment and 775 mL of overlying seawater. Exposure is static (that is, water is not renewed), and the animals are not fed over the 10-d exposure period. The endpoint in the toxicity test is survival with reburial of surviving amphipods as an additional m...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Protection of a species requires prevention of unacceptable effects on the number, weight, health, and uses of the individuals of that species. A life-cycle toxicity test is conducted to determine what changes in the numbers and weights of individuals of the test species result from effects of the test material on survival, growth, and reproduction. Information might also be obtained on effects of the material on the health and uses of the species.  
5.2 Results of life-cycle tests with mysids might be used to predict long-term effects likely to occur on mysids in field situations as a result of exposure under comparable conditions.  
5.3 Results of life-cycle tests with mysids might be used to compare the chronic sensitivities of different species and the chronic toxicities of different materials, and also to study the effects of various environmental factors on results of such tests.  
5.4 Results of life-cycle tests with mysids might be an important consideration when assessing the hazards of materials to aquatic organisms (see Guide E1023) or when deriving water quality criteria for aquatic organisms (1).4  
5.5 Results of a life-cycle test with mysids might be useful for predicting the results of chronic tests on the same test material with the same species in another water or with another species in the same or a different water (2). Most such predictions take into account results of acute toxicity tests, and so the usefulness of the results from a life-cycle test with mysids is greatly increased by also reporting the results of an acute toxicity test (see Guide E729) conducted under the same conditions.  
5.6 Results of life-cycle tests with mysids might be useful for studying the biological availability of, and structure-activity relationships between, test materials.  
5.7 Results of life-cycle tests with mysids might be useful for predicting population effects on the same species in another water or with another species in the same or a different...
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1.1 This guide describes procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the adverse effects of a test material added to dilution water, but not to food, on certain species of saltwater mysids during continuous exposure from immediately after birth until after the beginning of reproduction using the flow-through technique. These procedures will probably be useful for conducting life-cycle toxicity tests with other species of mysids, although modifications might be necessary.  
1.2 Other modifications of these procedures might be justified by special needs or circumstances. Although using appropriate procedures is more important than following prescribed procedures, results of tests conducted using unusual procedures are not likely to be comparable to results of many other tests. Comparison of results obtained using modified and unmodified versions of these procedures might provide useful information on new concepts and procedures for conducting life-cycle toxicity tests with saltwater mysids.  
1.3 These procedures are applicable to all chemicals, either individually or in formulations, commercial products, or known mixtures, that can be measured accurately at the necessary concentrations in water. With appropriate modifications, these procedures can be used to conduct tests on temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH and on such materials as aqueous effluents (see also Guide E1192), leachates, oils, particulate matter, sediments, and surface waters.  
1.4 This guide is arranged as follows:    
Section  
Referenced Documents  
2  
Terminology  
3  
Summary of Guide  
4  
Significance and Use  
5  
Hazards  
7  
Apparatus  
6  
Facilities  
6.1  
Construction Materials  
6.2  
Metering System  
6.3  
Test Chambers  
6.4  
Cleaning  
6.5  
Acceptability  
6.6  
Dilution Water  
8  
Requirements  
8.1  
Source  
8.2  
Treatment  
8.3  
Characterizat...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
6.1 Contaminated sediments may affect natural populations of aquatic organisms adversely. Sediment-dwelling organisms may be exposed directly to contaminants by the ingestion of sediments and by the uptake of sediment-associated contaminants from interstitial and overlying water. Contaminated sediments may affect water column species directly by serving as a source of contaminants to overlying waters or a sink for contaminants from overlying waters. Organisms may also be affected when contaminated sediments are suspended in the water column by natural or human activities. Water column species and nonaquatic species may also be affected indirectly by contaminated sediments by the transfer of contaminants through ecosystems (7, 8).  
6.2 The procedures described in this guide may be used and adapted for incorporation in basic and applied research to determine the ecological effects of contaminated sediments. These same methods may also be used in the development and implementation of monitoring and regulatory programs designed to prevent and manage sediment contamination.  
6.3 Sediment tests with aquatic organisms can be used to quantify the acute and chronic toxicity and the bioavailability of new and presently used materials. Sediment toxicity may also result from environmental processes such as ammonia generation, pH shifts, or dissolved oxygen fluctuation. In many cases, consideration of the adverse effects of sediment-associated contaminants is only one part of a complete hazard assessment of manufactured compounds that are applied directly to the environment (for example, pesticides) and those released (for example, through wastewater effluents) as by-products from the manufacturing process or from municipalities (7).  
6.4 Sediment tests can be used to develop exposure-response relationships for individual toxicants by spiking clean sediments with varying concentrations of a test chemical and determining the concentration that elicits the target response in...
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1.1 As the contamination of freshwater and saltwater ecosystems continues to be reduced through the implementation of regulations governing both point and non-point source discharges, there is a growing emphasis and concern regarding historical inputs and their influence on water and sediment quality. Many locations in urban areas exhibit significant sediment contamination, which poses a continual and long-term threat to the functional condition of benthic communities and other species inhabiting these areas (1).2 Benthic communities are an important component of many ecosystems and alterations of these communities may affect water-column and nonaquatic species.  
1.2 Biological tests with sediments are an efficient means for evaluating sediment contamination because they provide information complementary to chemical characterizations and ecological surveys (2). Acute sediment toxicity tests can be used as screening tools in the early phase of an assessment hierarchy that ultimately could include chemical measurements or bioaccumulation and chronic toxicity tests. Sediment tests have been applied in both saltwater and freshwater environments (2-6). Sediment tests have been used for dredge material permitting, site ranking for remediation, recovery studies following management actions, and trend monitoring. A particularly important application is for establishing contaminant-specific effects and the processes controlling contaminant bioavailability(7).  
1.3 This guide is arranged as follows:    
Section  
Referenced Documents  
2  
Terminology  
3  
Application  
4  
Summary of Guide  
5  
Significance and Use  
6  
Hazards  
7  
Sediment Test Types  
8  
Biological Responses  
9  
Test Organisms  
10  
Experimental Design Considerations  
11  
Data Interpretation  
12  
Keywords  
13  
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values g...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 This procedure can be used to limit the need for screening tests prior to performing a test for estimating the LC50 of a non-reactive and non-electrolytic chemical to the fathead minnow. By eliminating the screening test, fewer fish need be tested. The time used for preparing and performing the screening test can also be saved. The value obtained in this procedure can be used as the preliminary estimate of the LC50 in a full-scale test.  
5.2 Estimates can be used to set testing priority of groups of non-reactive and non-electrolytic chemicals.  
5.3 If the estimated value is more than 0.3 times the experimental value, the mechanism of action is probably narcosis. If less, the effect concentration is considered to reflect a different mechanism of action.  
5.4 This practice estimates a maximum LC50, that is, non-reactive and non-electrolytic chemicals are at least as toxic as the practice predicts, but may have a lower LC50 if acting by a more specific mechanism. Data on a chemical indicating a lower toxicity than predicted should be considered suspect or an artifact because of limited solubility of the test material.
SCOPE
1.1 This practice covers a procedure for estimating the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) 96-h LC50 of nonreactive (that is, covalently bonded without unsaturated residues) and nonelectrolytic (that is, require vigorous reagents to facilitate substitution, addition, replacement reactions and are non-ionic, non-dissociating in aqueous solutions) organic chemicals acting solely by narcosis, also referred to as Meyer-Overton toxicity relationship.2  
1.2 This procedure is accurate for organic chemicals that are toxic due to narcosis and are non-reactive and non-electrolytic. Examples of appropriate chemicals are: alcohols, ketones, ethers, simple halogenated aliphatics, aromatics, and aliphatic substituted aromatics. It is not appropriate for chemicals whose structures include a potential toxiphore (that structural component of a chemical molecule that has been identified to show mammalian toxicity, for example CN is known to be reponsible for inactivation of enzymes, NO2 for decoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, both leading to mammalian toxicity). Examples of chemicals inappropriate for this practice are: carbamates, organophosphates, phenols, beta-gamma unsaturated alcohols, electrophiles, and quaternary ammonium salts.  
1.3 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ABSTRACT
This guide covers procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the adverse effects of aqueous ambient samples and effluents on certain species of freshwater and saltwater fishes, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians, during a short-term exposure, depending on the species, using the static, renewal, and flow-through techniques. These procedures will probably be useful for conducting acute toxicity tests on aqueous effluents with many other aquatic species, although modifications might be necessary. Static tests might not be applicable to effluents that have a high oxygen demand, or contain materials that (1) are highly volatile, (2) are rapidly biologically or chemically transformed in aqueous solutions, or (3) are removed from test solutions in substantial quantities by the test chambers or organisms during the test. Results of acute toxicity tests should usually be reported in terms of a median lethal concentration (LC50) or median effective concentration (EC50). An acute toxicity test does not provide information about whether delayed effects will occur. Specified requirements involving the following are detailed: (1) hazards; (2) apparatus: facilities, special requirements, construction materials, metering system, test chambers, cleaning, and acceptability; (3) dilution water requirements, source, treatment, and characterization; (4) effluent sampling point, collection, preservation, treatment, and test concentrations; (5) test organism species, age, source, care and handling, feeding, disease treatment, holding, acclimation, and quality; (6) procedure: experimental design, dissolved oxygen, temperature, loading, beginning the test, feeding, duration of test, biological data, and other measurements; (7) analytical methodology; (8) acceptability of test; (9) calculation of results; and (1) report of results.
SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 An acute effluent toxicity test is conducted to obtain information concerning the immediate effects on test organisms of a short-term exposure to an effluent under specific experimental conditions. One can directly examine acute effects of complex mixtures of chemicals as occurs in effluents and some ambient waters. Acute effluent toxicity tests can be used to evaluate the potential for designated-use or aquatic life impairment in the receiving stream, lake, or estuary. An acute toxicity test does not provide information about whether delayed effects will occur, although a post-exposure observation period, with appropriate feeding if necessary, might provide such information.  
5.2 Results of acute effluent tests might be used to predict acute effects likely to occur on aquatic organisms in field situations as a result of exposure under comparable conditions, except that (1) motile organisms might avoid exposure when possible, (2) toxicity to benthic species might be dependent on sorption or settling of components of the effluent onto the substrate, and (3) the effluent might physically or chemically interact with the receiving water.  
5.3 Results of acute effluent tests might be used to compare the acute sensitivities of different species and the acute toxicities of different effluents, and to study the effects of various environmental factors on results of such tests.  
5.4 Acute tests are usually the first step in evaluating the effects of an effluent on aquatic organisms.  
5.5 Results of acute effluent tests will depend on the temperature, composition of the dilution water, condition of the test organisms, exposure technique, and other factors.
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1.1 This guide covers procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the adverse effects of an aqueous effluent on certain species of freshwater and saltwater fishes, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians, usually during 2 day to 4 day exposures, depending on the species, using the static, renewal, and flow-through techniques. These procedures will probably be useful for conducting acute toxicity tests on ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Adverse effects on natural populations of aquatic organisms and their uses have demonstrated the need to assess the hazards of many new, and some presently used, materials. The process described herein will help producers, users, regulatory agencies, and others to efficiently and adequately compare alternative materials, completely assess a final candidate material, or reassess the hazard of a material already in use.  
5.2 Sequential assessment and feedback allow appropriate judgments concerning efficient use of resources, thereby minimizing unnecessary testing and focusing effort on the information most pertinent to each material. For different materials and situations, assessment of hazard will appropriately be based on substantially different amounts and kinds of biological, chemical, physical, and toxicological data.  
5.3 Assessment of the hazard of a material to aquatic organisms and their uses should never be considered complete for all time. Reassessment should be considered if the amount of production, use, or disposal increases, new uses are discovered, or new information on biological, chemical, physical, or toxicological properties becomes available. Periodic review will help assure that new circumstances and information receive prompt appropriate attention.  
5.4 If there is substantial transformation to another material, the hazard of both materials may need to be assessed.  
5.5 In many cases, consideration of adverse effects should not end with completion of the hazard assessment. Additional steps should often include risk assessment, decisions concerning acceptability of identified hazards and risks, and mitigative actions.  
5.6 Because this practice deals mostly with adverse effects on aquatic organisms and their uses, it is important that mitigative actions, such as improved treatment of aqueous effluents, not result in unacceptable effects on non-aquatic organisms. Thus, this standard should be used with other information in order to a...
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1.1 This guide describes a stepwise process for using information concerning the biological, chemical, physical, and toxicological properties of a material to identify adverse effects likely to occur to aquatic organisms and their uses as a result of release of the material to the environment. The material will usually be a specific chemical, although it might be a group of chemicals that have very similar biological, chemical, physical, and toxicological properties and are usually produced, used, and discarded together.  
1.2 The hazard assessment process is complex and requires decisions at a number of points; thus, the validity of a hazard assessment depends on the soundness of those decisions, as well as the accuracy of the information used. All decisions should be based on reasonable worst-case analyses so that an appropriate assessment can be completed for the least cost that is consistent with scientific validity.  
1.3 This guide assumes that the reader is knowledgeable in aquatic toxicology and related pertinent areas. A list of general references is provided (1).2  
1.4 This guide does not describe or reference detailed procedures for estimating or measuring environmental concentrations, or procedures for determining the maximum concentration of test material that is acceptable in the food of predators of aquatic life. However, this guide does describe how such information should be used when assessing the hazard of a material to aquatic organisms and their uses.  
1.5 Because assessment of hazard to aquatic organisms and their uses is a relatively new activity within aquatic toxicology, most of the guidance provided herein is qualitative rather than quantitative. When possible, confidence limits should be calculated and taken into account.  
1.6 This guide provides guidance for assessing hazard but does not provide guidance on how to take into account social considerations in order to judge the acceptabil...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 An acute toxicity test is conducted to obtain information concerning the immediate effects on test organisms of a short-term exposure to a test material under specific experimental conditions. An acute toxicity test does not provide information about whether delayed effects will occur, although a post-exposure observation period, with appropriate feeding, if necessary, might provide such information. Bioavailability of the test substance may also differ between real-world exposures and laboratory exposures due to site-specific water quality conditions (see Guides E1192, E1563, and E2455).  
5.2 Results of acute toxicity tests might be used to predict acute effects likely to occur on aquatic organisms in field situations as a result of exposure under comparable conditions, except that (1) motile organisms might avoid exposure when possible, and (2) toxicity to benthic organisms might be dependent on sorption or settling of the test material onto the substrate.  
5.3 Results of acute tests might be used to compare the acute sensitivities of different species and the acute toxicities of different test materials, and to study the effects of various environmental factors on results of such tests.  
5.4 Results of acute toxicity tests might be an important consideration when assessing the hazards of materials to aquatic organisms (see Guide E1023) or when deriving water quality criteria for aquatic organisms (3).  
5.5 Results of acute toxicity tests might be useful for studying the biological availability of, and structure-activity relationships between, test materials.  
5.6 Results of acute toxicity tests will depend on the temperature, composition of the dilution water, condition of the test organisms, exposure technique, and other factors.
SCOPE
1.1 This guide (1)2 describes procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the adverse effects (for example, lethality and immobility) of a test material added to dilution water, but not to food, on certain species of freshwater and saltwater fishes, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians, usually during 2 to 4-day exposures, depending on the species. These procedures will probably be useful for conducting acute toxicity tests with many other aquatic species, although modifications might be necessary.  
1.2 Other modifications of these procedures might be justified by special needs or circumstances such as meeting specific study goals, regulatory needs, or to accommodate specific test organism life stages. Although using appropriate procedures is more important than following prescribed procedures, results of tests conducted using unusual or novel procedures are not likely to be comparable to results of many other tests. Comparison of results obtained using modified and unmodified versions of these procedures might provide useful information concerning new concepts and procedures for conducting acute tests.  
1.3 This guide describes tests using three basic exposure techniques: static, renewal, and flow-through. Selection of the technique to use in a specific situation will depend on the needs of the investigator and on available resources. Tests using the static technique provide the most easily obtained measure of acute toxicity, but conditions often change substantially during static tests; therefore, static tests should not last longer than 96 h, and test organisms should not be fed during such tests unless the test organisms are severely stressed without feeding over 48 h. Static tests should probably not be conducted on materials that have a high oxygen demand, are highly volatile, are rapidly transformed biologically or chemically in aqueous solution, or are removed from test solutions in substantial quantities by the test chambers or organisms during the test. Because the pH and concentrations of dissolved oxygen and test material are maintained at desired levels and degradation and metabolic products are removed, tests using ren...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Sediment toxicity evaluations are a critical component of environmental quality and ecosystem impact assessments, and are used to meet a variety of research and regulatory objectives. The manner in which the sediments are collected, stored, characterized, and manipulated can influence the results of any sediment quality or process evaluation greatly. Addressing these variables in a systematic and uniform manner will aid the interpretations of sediment toxicity or bioaccumulation results and may allow comparisons between studies.  
5.2 Sediment quality assessment is an important component of water quality protection. Sediment assessments commonly include physicochemical characterization, toxicity tests or bioaccumulation tests, as well as benthic community analyses. The use of consistent sediment collection, manipulation, and storage methods will help provide high quality samples with which accurate data can be obtained for the national inventory and for other programs to prevent, remediate, and manage contaminated sediment.  
5.3 It is now widely known that the methods used in sample collection, transport, handling, storage, and manipulation of sediments and interstitial waters can influence the physicochemical properties and the results of chemical, toxicity, and bioaccumulation analyses. Addressing these variables in an appropriate and systematic manner will provide more accurate sediment quality data and facilitate comparisons among sediment studies.  
5.4 This standard provides current information and recommendations for collecting and handling sediments for physicochemical characterization and biological testing, using procedures that are most likely to maintain in situ conditions, most accurately represent the sediment in question, or satisfy particular needs, to help generate consistent, high quality data collection.  
5.5 This standard is intended to provide technical support to those who design or perform sediment quality studies under a variety of ...
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1.1 This guide covers procedures for obtaining, storing, characterizing, and manipulating marine, estuarine, and freshwater sediments, for use in laboratory sediment toxicity evaluations and describes samplers that can be used to collect sediment and benthic invertebrates (Annex A1). This standard is not meant to provide detailed guidance for all aspects of sediment assessments, such as chemical analyses or monitoring, geophysical characterization, or extractable phase and fractionation analyses. However, some of this information might have applications for some of these activities. A variety of methods are reviewed in this guide. A statement on the consensus approach then follows this review of the methods. This consensus approach has been included in order to foster consistency among studies. It is anticipated that recommended methods and this guide will be updated routinely to reflect progress in our understanding of sediments and how to best study them. This version of the standard is based primarily on a document developed by USEPA (2001 (1))2 and by Environment Canada (1994 (2)) as well as an earlier version of this standard.  
1.2 Protecting sediment quality is an important part of restoring and maintaining the biological integrity of our natural resources as well as protecting aquatic life, wildlife, and human health. Sediment is an integral component of aquatic ecosystems, providing habitat, feeding, spawning, and rearing areas for many aquatic organisms (MacDonald and Ingersoll 2002 a, b (3)(4)). Sediment also serves as a reservoir for contaminants in sediment and therefore a potential source of contaminants to the water column, organisms, and ultimately human consumers of those organisms. These contaminants can arise from a number of sources, including municipal and industrial discharges, urban and agricultural runoff, atmospheric deposition, and port operations.  
1.3 Contaminated sediment can cause lethal ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 General—CCPs can have chemical and mineralogical compositions that are conducive to use in the chemical stabilization of trace elements in wastes and wastewater. These elements include, but are not limited to, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, vanadium, and zinc. Chemical stabilization may be accompanied by solidification of the waste treated. Solidification is not a requirement for the stabilization of many trace elements, but does offer advantages in waste handling and in reduced permeability of the stabilized waste. This guide addresses the use of CCPs as a stabilizing agent with or without addition of other materials.  
Note 1: In the United States, S/S is considered the BDAT for the disposal of some wastes that contain metals since they cannot be destroyed by other means (2).  
4.1.1 Advantages of Using CCPs—Advantages of using CCPs for waste stabilization include their availability in high volumes, and generally good product consistency from a single source. In addition, in some instances certain CCPs can partly or entirely replace other expensive stabilization materials such as Portland cement. CCPs vary depending on the combustion or emission control process and the coal or sorbents used, or both, and CCPs contain trace elements, although usually at very low concentrations. CCPs are generally an environmentally suitable materials option for waste stabilization, but the compatibility of a specific CCP must be evaluated with individual wastes or wastewater through laboratory-scale tests followed by full-scale demonstration and verification. CCPs suitable for the chemical stabilization have the ability to incorporate large amounts of free water via hydration reactions. These same hydration reactions frequently result in the formation of mineral phases that stabilize or chemically immobilize the trace elements of concern. CCPs that exhibit high pHs (>11.5) offer advantages in stabilizing trace elements t...
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1.1 This guide covers methods for selection and application of coal combustion products (CCPs) for use in the chemical stabilization of trace elements in wastes and wastewater. These elements include, but are not limited to, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, vanadium, and zinc. Chemical stabilization may be accompanied by solidification of the waste treated. Solidification is not a requirement for the stabilization of many trace elements, but does offer advantages in waste handling and in reduced permeability of the stabilized waste.  
1.1.1 Solidification is an important factor in treatment of wastes and especially wastewaters. Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) technology is often used to treat wastes containing free liquids. This guide addresses the use of CCPs as a stabilizing agent (with or without the addition of other materials. Stabilization may be achieved by using combinations of CCPs and other products such as lime, lime kiln dust, cement kiln dust, cement, and others. CCPs used alone or in combination with other reagents promote stabilization of many inorganic constituents through a variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms include precipitation as hydrates, carbonates, silicates, sulfates, and so forth; microencapsulation of the waste particles through pozzolanic reactions; formation of metal precipitates; and formation of hydrated phases (1-4).2 Long-term performance of the stabilized waste is an issue that must be addressed in considering any S/S technology. In this guide, several tests are recommended to aid in evaluating the long-term performance of the stabilized wastes.  
1.2 The CCPs that are suited for this application include fly ash, dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) material, and and fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) ash.  
1.3 The wastes or wastewater, or both, containing the inorganic species may be highly variable, so the chemical characterist...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The term duckweed commonly refers to members of the family Lemnaceae. This family has many species world-wide in 4 genera. This guide is designed for toxicity testing with one particular clone of one species of duckweed that has been extensively studied, Lemna gibba G3, although other species such as Lemna minor or Spirodela spp. can probably also be tested using the procedures described herein.  
5.2 Duckweeds are widespread, free-floating aquatic plants, ranging in the world from tropical to temperate zones. Duckweeds are a source of food for waterfowl and small animals and provide food, shelter, and shade for fish. The plants also serve as physical support for a variety of small invertebrates. Duckweed is fast growing and reproduces rapidly compared with other vascular plants (1).3 Under conditions favorable for its growth, it can multiply quickly and form a dense mat in lakes, ponds, and canals, primarily in fresh water, but also in estuaries. It also grows well in effluents of wastewater treatment plants and has been suggested as a means of treating wastewaters (2). A dense mat of duckweed can block sunlight and aeration and cause fish kills (3).  
5.3 Duckweed is small enough that large laboratory facilities are not necessary, but large enough that effects can be observed visually.  
5.4 Because duckweed is a floating macrophyte, it might be particularly susceptible to surface active and hydrophobic chemicals that concentrate at the air-water interface. Results of duckweed tests on such chemicals, therefore, might be substantially different from those obtained with other aquatic species.  
5.5 Results of toxicity tests with duckweed might be used to predict effects likely to occur on duckweed in field situations as a result of exposure under comparable conditions.  
5.6 Results of tests with duckweed might be used to compare the toxicities of different materials and to study the effects of various environmental factors on results of such tests.  
5.7...
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1.1 This guide describes procedures for obtaining laboratory data concerning the adverse effects of a text material added to growth medium on a certain species of duckweed (Lemna gibba G3) during a 7-day exposure using the static technique. These procedures will probably be useful for conducting toxicity tests with other species of duckweed and other floating vascular plants, although modifications might be necessary.  
1.2 Special needs or circumstances might also justify modification of this standard. Although using appropriate procedures is more important than following prescribed procedures, results of tests conducted using unusual procedures are not likely to be comparable to results of many other tests. Comparison of results obtained using modified and unmodified versions of these procedures might provide useful information concerning new concepts and procedures for conducting tests with duckweed.  
1.3 The procedures in this guide are applicable to most chemicals, either individually or in formulations, commercial products, or known mixtures. With appropriate modifications these procedures can be used to conduct tests on temperature and pH and on such other materials as aqueous effluents (see also Guide E1192), leachates, oils, particulate matter, sediments and surface waters. These procedures do not specifically address effluents because to date there is little experience using duckweeds in effluent testing and such tests may pose problems with acclimation of the test organisms to the receiving water. Static tests might not be applicable to materials that have a high oxygen demand, are highly volatile, are rapidly biologically or chemically transformed in aqueous solution, or are removed from test solutions in substantial quantities by the test chambers or organisms during the test.  
1.4 Results of toxicity tests performed using the procedures in this guide should usually be reported in terms of the 7-day IC5...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Stakeholder engagement, in the climate vulnerability context, most often refers to the meaningful involvement of affected parties in planning or decision-making efforts in order to integrate their knowledge and values with a particular project’s more specialized knowledge and purpose. In turn, stakeholders are often broadly defined as those people who are affected by or can affect a decision and range from the “average” citizen to groups of highly interested or invested decision-makers.  
5.2 It is important that stakeholders understand the role they are invited to play in a public engagement program. This will help provide clarity to the process and help avoid misunderstandings. Stakeholder roles may naturally evolve over the period that they are engaged in a public process, and as transition occurs, it is wise to redefine these roles. When an advisory committee or partnership between public agencies is established, it is helpful to develop a charter or other memo of understanding that describes the roles and responsibilities of all involved.  
5.3 EPA’s Public Involvement Spectrum (2015)(6) can provide useful tools. Fig. 2 illustrates a spectrum of public involvement options that may be appropriate.
FIG. 2 EPA Public Involvement Spectrum.
Source: U.S. EPA’s Public Involvement Spectrum
SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a series of steps to develop and execute an effective stakeholder engagement process for a broad spectrum of environmental projects including, but not limited to, site remediation and brownfields development, as well as local and regional climate resiliency and climate vulnerability initiatives. This guide does not apply to broad programmatic initiatives.  
1.2 Effective stakeholder engagement in site remediation, brownfields redevelopment, habitat restoration, climate resiliency, climate vulnerability, and flood prevention and control projects requires a process that is based on mutual education, effective communication about the project and its impacts, identification of the interests that will be affected, and open discussion about how to address those interests to the extent that is possible. The General Accountability Office suggests that core principles and strategic approaches enhance stakeholder participation (GAO 2006)(1)2. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that stakeholders developed more robust mitigation measures that addressed multiple hazards when they integrated climate variability into vulnerability and risk assessments associated with flooding and other natural disasters in the East Bay area of California’s San Francisco Bay. (NOAA, 2021)(2).  
1.3 An effective stakeholder engagement process (see Fig. 1) can create benefits for large projects, including:3
FIG. 1 Stakeholder Engagement Process  
Source: Eurofleets https://www.eurofleets.eu/stakeholders/  
1.3.1 Improved, sustainable outcomes, because the final project plan builds on local capacity and knowledge and considers local and regional issues that may require resolution in order to move forward.  
1.3.2 Shared understanding of perspectives, issues, challenges, alternatives, and how these influence the desired or necessary outcomes  
1.3.3 Credibility of and predictability for the project plan that comes from transparency  
1.3.4 Stakeholder support for the planning process through shared data, ideas, funding, and political support  
1.3.5 Strengthened relationships among affected parties for moving forward on the project.  
1.3.6 Satisfying any legally-required public notice and participation requirements.  
1.3.6.1 Stakeholder engagement should not be confused with the public participation requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act codified in 40 CFR §6.203. because NEPA potentially does not involve stakeholders until later in the project development process. In addition, NEPA's public participation process is not as flexible as that descr...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Use—The standard is intended for use on a voluntary basis by an estimator of costs and liabilities for environmental matters. The user may elect to apply this standard for any or all uses outlined in the Purpose. Application of this standard for one use does not compel application of the standard for all or any other use.  
4.2 Principles—The following principles are an integral part of this standard and should be used to resolve ambiguity or dispute regarding the interpretation of estimated costs and liabilities for environmental matters.  
4.2.1 Framing the Estimate—It is important to understand and document/disclose the framework in which the estimate is being made, including identification of the requestor, estimator and relevant qualifications, purpose of the estimate, audience/user of the estimate, limitations, assumptions, and a description of what constitutes a reliable estimate.  
4.2.2 Caution When Repurposing Estimates—The estimator should exercise care when repurposing an estimate generated for one objective and audience. For example, an estimator may use the expected value approach on a given cost and liability, and find that the “financial assurance estimate” uses unique financial assumptions (inflation, discount rate, time horizon) specified by a state regulator, while a “project controls” or “reserve” forecast – for the very same cost and liability -- will use differing financial factors.  
4.2.3 Uncertainty Not Eliminated—Even though an estimate of costs and liabilities for environmental matters is prepared in accordance with this standard, uncertainty remains with regard to, among other things, the resolution of contractual, technological, regulatory, legislative, and judicial issues, which could affect the costs and liabilities. However, inherent uncertainty in estimates should not prevent an estimate from being made.  
4.2.4 Periodic Review of Assumptions and Estimates—Assumptions underlying estimates should be reviewed, documented and p...
SCOPE
1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this document is to provide a standard guide for good commercial and customary practice in estimating costs and liabilities for environmental matters.2 Many possible uses for estimates of costs and liabilities for environmental matters exist, including but not limited to business decision making and portfolio optimization, due diligence and communications involving acquisitions and divestitures, regulatory requirements, third-party lawsuits, insurance premium calculation and claim settlement, change of property use, revitalization, compliance planning, construction and project control, analysis of remedial alternatives, budgeting, strategic planning, audit defense, financing, and investment analysis by shareholders. The use of estimated costs and liabilities developed in accordance with this standard may be subject to other standards applicable to the matter involved. For example, it is not intended to supersede accounting and actuarial standards. This standard does not address the establishment of reserves or disclosure requirements.  
1.2 Objectives—The objective of this standard is to provide guidance on approaches for estimating costs and liabilities for environmental matters.  
1.3 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 The Eco-RBCA process presented in this guide is a streamlined decision-making process for implementing corrective action protective of ecological resources at chemical release sites in a consistent manner. Eco-RBCA provides a framework for sites not covered under regulatory programs, for sites under regulatory programs that lack guidance, or for sites under programs with guidance that lack detail. Eco-RBCA may also provide a useful framework to help merge an approach when multiple regulatory programs apply.  
4.2 Ecological risk assessment is a science-based process that can be used to provide insight for risk management decision-making. Numerous federal and state programs have guidance for conducting ERA. Available regulatory approaches to ERA were reviewed in preparation for the development of this Eco-RBCA guide. Eco-RBCA was designed to be adaptable to the use of a variety of methods for considering risks to relevant ecological receptors and habitats. Some attributes of the standard are:  
4.2.1 Use of a tiered approach, including process flow charts to identify critical steps and facilitate the development of an overview of the entire process;  
4.2.2 Identification, development, and use of TPDs from Step 1 and throughout the entire Eco-RBCA process;  
4.2.3 Indications of the value and timing of stakeholder involvement, recognizing that some regulations require coordination with federal, state, tribal, and natural-resource trustees, and other stakeholders;  
4.2.4 Identification of situations under which an ERA may or may not be necessary; and  
4.2.5 Identification of decision points where ERA results are used for risk management decision making.  
4.3 Activities described in this guide should involve persons with the appropriate skills and expertise. The user may rely on individuals expert in remediation science and technology, ecology/biology, ecotoxicology, ERA practices, and site characterization techniques.  
4.4 This guide and supporting app...
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1.1 This is a guide to risk-based corrective action for the protection of ecological resources and supplements the RBCA process (Guide E2081). The primary objective of the Eco-RBCA process is to provide a flexible framework for a tiered approach to ERA and risk management decision making at chemical release sites. To this end, available guidance documents from various federal and state agencies were reviewed and their common attributes incorporated into this guide, where possible. The Eco-RBCA process complements existing technical and regulatory ecological risk guidance (see 4.2). In particular, it is intended to be compatible with the USEPA programmatic guidelines for ERA  (1)2, guidance for the Superfund program (2), and other USEPA (3) risk assessment and corrective-action programs. Eco-RBCA might also be used in conjunction with corrective action strategies that include human health issues (for example, Guide E2081).  
1.2 Chemical release sites vary greatly in terms of complexity, physical and chemical characteristics, and the risk that they might pose to ecological resources. The Eco-RBCA process, as described in Guide E2081, recognizes this variability and incorporates a tiered approach that integrates site assessment, response actions, and remedial actions with ERA. The process begins with relatively simple analyses in Tier 1 and, if necessary, proceeds to more detailed evaluations in Tier 2 or Tier 3. The process of gathering and evaluating data is conducted in such a manner that only those data that are necessary for a given tier's decision making are collected at each tier. Hence, this can facilitate effective use of resources and reduce initial data requirements.  
1.3 Eco-RBCA is intended to provide a framework for sites not covered under regulatory programs and for sites under regulatory programs that lack specific guidance. Eco-RBCA may also provide a useful framework to help merge several possible appr...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Guidance on management of NAPL sites and a large body of research effort contributing to their development (for example, ITRC 2018 (1); CRC CARE 2018 (2); CL:AIRE 2019 (3) and CRC CARE 2020 (4)) point to the significance of natural attenuation and NSZD in the evolution of NAPL source and the resulting distributions of COCs in soil, groundwater and vapor.  
4.2 Examples of reported ranges in estimated natural attenuation rates are 300 – 7700 gallons of NAPL/acre/year (Garg et al. 2017 (5)); and 0.4 – 280 metric tons of NAPL/year (CRC CARE 2020 (4)).  
4.3 The intent of this guide is to provide a standardized approach for the estimation of natural attenuation rates for NAPL in the subsurface. The rates can be used for establishing a baseline metric for those involved in the remedial decision-making process. There is a need for a systematic approach and refinement in data collection and interpretation for quantifying the spatially and temporally variable rates. Providing quality assurance in estimation of this metric will enable the assessment of relatively more engineered remedies as compared to natural remedies or MNA (Fig. 1), as well as estimation of the remediation timeframe. This comparison, when performed through a standardized approach, can lead to actionable metrics for transition to sustainable remedies through well-defined and transparent criteria. In the context of a spectrum of remediation options in terms of engineered and natural remedies (Fig. 1), the transition is from a relatively more engineered (or active remediation) to a relatively more nature-based remedy. When considered in the remedial decision-making process, estimates of natural attenuation rates can be used:  
4.3.1 Before active remediation (as baseline to assess whether active remediation is needed);  
4.3.2 During active remediation (as performance/optimization metric); and  
4.3.3 At the end of active remediation (support transition to MNA or site closure).  
4.4 Since natural ...
SCOPE
1.1 This is a guide for determining the appropriate method or combination of methods for the estimation of natural attenuation or depletion rates at sites with non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination in the subsurface. This guide builds on a number of existing guidance documents worldwide and incorporates the advances in methods for estimating the natural attenuation rates.  
1.2 The guide is focused on hydrocarbon chemicals of concern (COCs) that include petroleum hydrocarbons derived from crude oil (for example, motor fuels, jet oils, lubricants, petroleum solvents, and used oils) and other hydrocarbon NAPLs (for example, creosote and coal tars). While much of what is discussed may be relevant to other organic chemicals, the applicability of the standard to other NAPLs, like chlorinated solvents or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is not included in this guide.  
1.3 This guide is intended to evaluate the role of NAPL natural attenuation towards reaching the remedial objectives and/or performance goals at a specific site; and the selection of an appropriate remedy, including remediation through monitoring of natural or enhanced attenuation, or the remedy transition to natural mechanisms. While the evaluation can support some aspects of site characterization, the development of the conceptual site model and risk assessment, it is not intended to replace risk assessment and mitigation, such as addressing potential impact to human health or environment, or need for source control.  
1.4 Estimation of NAPL natural attenuation rates in the subsurface relies on indirect measurements of environmental indicators and their variation in time and space. Available methods described in this standard are based on evaluation of biogeochemical reactions and physical transport processes combined with data analysis to infer and quantify the natural attenuation rates for NAPL present in the vadose and/or saturated zones.  
1.5...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Uses—This practice is intended for use by federal agencies, and environmental professionals in order to facilitate ECP efforts. It is also intended for use by preparers and reviewers of environmental condition of property maps and ECP reports used to support CERFA uncontaminated property identifications and property suitable for transfer by lease or by deed. GSA regulations addressing the disposal of federal property (41 CFR §105-72), require the landholding agency to assert either that (a) there is no evidence of hazardous substance activity, or (b) there is evidence of hazardous substance activity that occurred on the property. If there is evidence that hazardous substance activity occurred on the property, the landholding agency has a “due diligence” obligation to provide detailed, accurate information on all “reportable quantities” of hazardous substances stored, released, or disposed of on property that it reports to GSA for disposal. The specific substances that must be reported under CERCLA and their reporting limits are described in 40 CFR §302.4 and 40 CFR §373. If the landholding agency discloses that hazardous substance activity took place on the property, then the landholding agency must assert whether or not all required remedial action necessary to protect human health and the environment has been taken with respect to those hazardous substances.  
4.1.1 The ECP reports prepared in accordance with this practice may be used to achieve compliance with the federal Management Regulations, Real Property Disposal rules codified in 41 CFR §102-75.  
4.2 Clarifications on Use:  
4.2.1 Use Not Limited to CERCLA—This practice is designed to assist the user in developing information about the environmental condition of a property and as such has utility for a wide range of persons, including those who may have no actual or potential CERCLA liability (see 40 CFR §373, 41 CFR §102-75 and Section 208 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Public Law ...
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1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this practice is to define good commercial and customary practice in the United States for assessing the environmental condition of property (ECP) of federal real property. This practice applies to property under consideration for lease, excess and surplus property at closing and realigning military installations, claims reverting to federal ownership such as abandoned mines, and other federally-owned property. The steps in this practice are conducted to fulfill certain requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) section 120(h), as amended by the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act of 1992 (CERFA) and the federal real property disposal regulations codified in 41 CFR Subpart C (41 CFR 102-75). As such, this practice is intended to help a user to gather and analyze data and information in order to classify property into the applicable environmental condition of property area types (in accordance with the ASTM D5746, Standard Classification of Environmental Condition of Property Area Types, (see Appendix X1). Once documented, the ECP report is used to support Findings of Suitability to Transfer (FOSTs), Findings of Suitability to Lease (FOSLs), or uncontaminated property determinations, or a combination thereof, pursuant to the requirements of CERFA and CERCLA § 120(h). Users of this practice should note that it does not address (except where explicitly noted) requirements for appropriate and timely regulatory consultation or concurrence, or both, during the conduct of the ECP or during the identification and use of the standard environmental condition of property area types.  
1.1.1 Environmental Condition of Property—In accordance with the federal landholding agency policies and General Services Administration’s (GSA) federal real property management regulations, an ECP will be prepared or evaluated for its usefulness (...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Activity and use limitations  are typically used in conjunction with risk-based decision-making principles in Federal, state, tribal, and local remediation programs, or where residual chemicals of concern remain following an evaluation of risk or following the implementation of a remedial action (see American Bar Association's Implementing Institutional Controls at Brownfields and Other Contaminated Sites; EPA's Institutional Controls: A Site Manager's Guide to Identifying, Evaluating and Selecting Institutional Controls at Superfund and RCRA Corrective Action Cleanups; EPA’s Enforcement Discretion Guidance Regarding Statutory Criteria for Those Who May Qualify as CERCLA Bona Fide Prospective Purchasers, Contiguous Property Owners, or Innocent Landowners (“Common Elements”); EPA’s Superfund Liability Protections for Local Government Acquisitions after the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2018); and EPA's Strategy to Insure Institutional Control Implementation at Superfund Sites). The principal purposes of  activity and use limitations are to:  
4.1.1 Eliminate exposure pathways for, or reduce potential exposures to, chemicals of concern identified in the conceptual site model.  
4.1.2 Provide notice to property owners, holders of interests in the property, title companies, utilities, tenants, realtors, lenders, developers, appraisers and others of the presence and location of chemicals of concern that may be present on the site;  
4.1.3 Identify the objectives and goals of each activity and use limitation, as an integral component of the corrective action plan for site remediation plan;  
4.1.4 Identify the exposure assumptions upon which each activity and use limitation is based;  
4.1.5 Identify the site uses and activities which, if they were to occur in the future, would be appropriate and consistent with maintaining a condition of “acceptable risk” or “no significant risk”;  
4.1.6 Identify the site uses and activities...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide covers information for incorporating activity and use limitations that are protective of human health and the environment into federal, state, tribal or local remediation programs using a risk-based approach to corrective action. Activity and use limitations should be considered early in the site assessment and remedial action selection process, and should be considered an integral part of remedial action selection. In the event that an appropriate activity and use limitation cannot be found, the user may need to revisit the initial remedial action selection decision.  
1.2 This guide does not mandate any one particular type of activity and use limitation but merely serves to help users identify, implement and maintain the types of activity and use limitations that may be appropriate in programs using a risk-based decision-making approach.  
1.3 This guide identifies screening and balancing criteria that should be applied in determining whether any particular activity and use limitation may be appropriate. This guide identifies the need to develop long-term monitoring and stewardship plans to ensure the long-term reliability and enforceability of activity and use limitations. This guide explains the purpose of activity and use limitations in the remedial action process and the types of activity and use limitations that are most commonly available.  
1.4 This guide describes the process for evaluating potentially applicable activity and use limitations and using and screening and balancing criteria to select one or more activity and use limitations for a specific site. The guide also describes some “best practices” from a transactional, stakeholder involvement, and long-term stewardship perspective. The guide also emphasizes the importance of considering the need for, and potential applicability of, activity and use limitations EARLY in the remedial action process. This guide can be used to effectively i...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The information in this guide is designed to allow investigators conducting research or tests of environmental relevance to select appropriate light sources.  
5.2 Investigators will be able to make reasonable selections of light sources based on cost, the requirements of the test organisms, and the properties of the test chemicals.  
5.3 These methods have major significance for the comparison of results between laboratories. Investigators at different sites will be able to select similar light sources. This will provide standardization of a factor that can have major impact on the effects of hazardous chemicals.
SCOPE
1.1 The use of artificial lighting is often required to study the responses of living organisms to contaminants in a controlled manner. Even if the test organism does not require light, the investigator will generally need light to manipulate the samples, and the test might be conducted under the ambient light of the laboratory. One will need to consider not only whether the particular test organism requires light for growth, but also whether the environmental compartment relevant to the test is exposed to light and, if so, what the attributes of light are in that compartment. The light could affect growth of the organism or toxicity of a contaminant, or both. For instance, it has been shown that the toxicity of some organic pollutants is enhanced dramatically by the ultraviolet (UV) radiation present in sunlight (1, 2) .2 Furthermore, the level of ambient lighting in the laboratory (which might affect the test) is not standardized, nor is it comparable to natural environments. It is thus important to consider lighting in all forms of environmental testing. When light is used in the test, one should determine whether the spectral distribution of the radiation source mimics sunlight adequately to be considered environmentally relevant. Also, the container or vessel for the experiment must be transparent, at the point of light entry, to all of the spectral regions in the light source needed for the test.  
1.2 It is possible to simulate sunlight with respect to the visible:UV ratio with relatively inexpensive equipment. This guide contains information on the types of artificial light sources that are commonly used in the laboratory, compositions of light sources that mimic the biologically relevant spectral range of sunlight, quantification of irradiance levels of the light sources, determination of spectral outputs of the light sources, transmittance properties of materials used for laboratory containers, calculation of biologically effective radiation, and considerations that should go into designing a relevant light source for a given test.  
1.3 Special needs or circumstances will dictate how a given light source is constructed. This is based on the requirements of the test and the environmental compartment to which it is targeted. Using appropriate conditions is most important for any experiment, and it is desirable to standardize these conditions among laboratories. In extreme cases, tests using unusual lighting conditions might render a data set incomparable to other tests.  
1.4 The lighting conditions described herein are applicable to tests with most organisms and using most chemicals. With appropriate modifications, these light sources can be used under most laboratory conditions with many types of laboratory vessels.  
1.5 The attributes of the light source used in a given study should list the types of lamps used, any screening materials, the light level as an energy fluence rate (in W m−2 ) or photon fluence rate (in μmol m−2 s−1 ), and the transmission properties of the vessels used to hold the test organism(s). If it is relevant to the outcome of a test, the spectral quality of the light source should be measured with a spectroradiometer and the emission spectrum provided graphically for reference.  
1.6 The sections of this guide are arranged as foll...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Terrestrial phytotoxicity tests are useful in assessing the effects of environmental samples or specific chemicals as a part of an ecological risk assessment (3-6, 12, 13).  
5.2 Though inferences regarding higher-order ecological effects (population, community, or landscape) may be made from the results, these tests evaluate responses of individuals of one or more plant species to the test substance.  
5.3 This guide is applicable for: (a) establishing phytotoxicity of organic and inorganic substances; (b) determining the phytotoxicity of environmental samples; (c) determining the phytotoxicity of sludges and hazardous wastes, (d) assessing the impact of discharge of toxicants to land, and (e) assessing the effectiveness of remediation efforts.
SCOPE
1.1 This guide covers practices for conducting plant toxicity tests using terrestrial plant species to determine effects of test substances on plant growth and development. Specific test procedures are presented in accompanying annexes.  
1.2 Terrestrial plants are vital components of ecological landscapes. The populations and communities of plants influence the distribution and abundance of wildlife. Obviously, plants are the central focus of agriculture, forestry, and rangelands. Toxicity tests conducted under the guidelines and annexes presented herein can provide critical information regarding the effects of chemicals on the establishment and maintenance of terrestrial plant communities.  
1.3 Toxic substances that prevent or reduce seed germination can have immediate and large impacts to crops. In natural systems, many desired species may be sensitive, while other species are tolerant. Such selective pressure can result in changes in species diversity, population dynamics, and community structure that may be considered undesirable. Similarly, toxic substances may impair the growth and development of seedlings resulting in decreased plant populations, decreased competitive abilities, reduced reproductive capacity, and lowered crop yield. For the purposes of this guide, test substances include pesticides, industrial chemicals, sludges, metals or metalloids, and hazardous wastes that could be added to soil. It also includes environmental samples that may have had any of these test substances incorporated into soil.  
1.4 Terrestrial plants range from annuals, capable of completing a life-cycle in as little as a few weeks, to long-lived perennials that grow and reproduce for several hundreds of years. Procedures to evaluate chemical effects on plants range from short-term measures of physiological responses (for example, chlorophyll fluorescence) to field studies of trees over several years. Research and development of standardized plant tests have emphasized three categories of tests: (1) short-term, physiological endpoints (that is, biomarkers); (2) short-term tests conducted during the early stages of plant growth with several endpoints related to survival, growth, and development; and (3) life-cycle toxicity tests that emphasize reproductive success.  
1.5 This guide is arranged by sections as follows:  
Section  
Title  
1  
Scope  
2  
Referenced Documents  
3  
Terminology  
4  
Summary of Phytotoxicity Tests  
5  
Significance and Use  
6  
Apparatus  
7  
Test Material  
8  
Hazards  
9  
Test Organisms  
10  
Sample Handling and Storage  
11  
Calibration and Standardization  
12  
Test Conditions  
13  
Interference and Limitations  
14  
Quality Assurance and Quality Control  
15  
Calculations and Interpretation of Results    
16  
Precision and Bias  
1.6 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.  
1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate saf...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
3.1 This practice pertains to all forms of toxicological testing (acute, subchronic, or chronic) performed by any route of administration (inhalation, oral, dermal, ocular, or other).  
3.2 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Good Laboratory Practices for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies, as listed in 40 CFR, requires that a testing facility maintain specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) including an SOP covering clinical observations in test animals.  
3.3 This practice serves as a basis for consistency in clinical observations and is not meant to serve as a comprehensive list of observations that may be observed. Actual procedures and forms to be used in recording observations must be described in individual study protocols.
SCOPE
1.1 This practice describes the terms used in observing and recording cutaneous, gastrointestinal, respiratory, reproductive, neuromuscular, ocular, and general clinical signs of animals undergoing toxicological testing. This practice also assists in properly observing and assessing laboratory animals for signs of disease or adverse effects of compound administration.  
1.2 This practice includes codes and descriptions for a wide variety of clinical signs, anatomical locations, and other descriptive qualifiers, and a technique for scoring the extent or severity of clinical signs.  
1.3 This practice assumes that the reader is knowledgeable in animal toxicology and related pertinent areas and is trained in making clinical observations.  
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Soil toxicity tests provide information concerning the toxicity and bioavailability of chemicals associated with soils to terrestrial organisms. As important members of the soil fauna, nematodes have a number of characteristics that make them appropriate organisms for use in the assessment of potentially hazardous soils. Bacterial-feeding nematodes such as C. elegans feed on soil microbes and contribute to the breakdown of organic matter. They are also of extreme importance in the cycling and degradation of key nutrients in soil ecosystems (9). Soil nematodes also serve as a source of prey and nutrients for fauna and microflora such as soil nematophagous fungi (10). A major change in the abundance of soil invertebrates such as nematodes, either as a food source or as organisms functioning properly in trophic energy transfer and nutrient cycling, could have serious adverse ecological effects on the entire terrestrial system.  
5.2 Results from soil tests might be an important consideration when assessing the hazards of materials to terrestrial organisms.  
5.3 The soil test might be used to determine the temporal or spatial distribution of soil toxicity. Test methods can be used to detect horizontal and vertical gradients in toxicity.  
5.4 Results of soil tests could be used to compare the sensitivities of different species.  
5.5 An understanding of the effect of these parameters on toxicity may be gained by varying soil characteristics such as pH, clay content, and organic material.  
5.6 Results of soil tests may be useful in helping to predict the effects likely to occur with terrestrial organisms in field situations.  
5.6.1 Field surveys can be designed to provide either a qualitative or quantitative evaluation of biological effects within a site or among sites.  
5.6.2 Soil surveys evaluating biological effects are usually part of more comprehensive analyses of biological, chemical, geological, and hydrographic conditions. Statistical correlation c...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide covers procedures for obtaining laboratory data to evaluate the adverse effects of chemicals associated with soil to nematodes from soil toxicity tests. This standard is based on a modification to Guide E1676. The methods are designed to assess lethal or sublethal toxic effects on nematodes in short-term tests in terrestrial systems. Soils to be tested may be (1) references soils or potentially toxic soil sites; (2) artificial, reference, or site soils spiked with compounds; (3) site soils diluted with reference soils; or (4) site or reference soils diluted with artificial soil. Test procedures are described for the species Caenorhabditis elegans (see Annex A1). Methods described in this guide may also be useful for conducting soil toxicity tests with other terrestrial species, although modifications may be necessary.  
1.2 Summary of Previous Studies—Initial soil toxicity testing using the free-living, bacterivorous soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was developed by Donkin and Dusenbery (1).2 Following the development of an effective method of recovery of C. elegans  from test soils, the organism was used to identify factors that affect the toxicity of zinc, cadmium, copper, and lead (2) . Freeman et al. further refined the nematode bioassay by decreasing the quantity of soil and spiking solution volumes, determining test acceptability criteria, and developing control charts to assess worm health using copper as a reference toxicant (3). More recently, the toxicological effects of nitrate and chloride metallic salts in two natural soils were compared (4) . LC50 values for C. elegans exposed for 24-h to nitrate salts of cadmium, copper, zinc, lead and nickel in an artificial soil (see Annex A2) were found to be similar to LC50 values for the earthworm, Eisenia fetida  (5). Increasing the exposure time to 48-h resulted in much lower LC50 values (6). However, longer exposure times necessitate the additio...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 The Use of this Standard Guide—This guide addresses issues related solely to adaptation strategies and development of a plan to address extreme weather and related physical changes. This guide does not include specific guidance on risk assessment, however references are provided in Appendix X3. The matrix approach does reflect general risks for certain regions of the country, based upon the frequency of extreme weather and/or conditions such as fires, floods, storms, drought, and extreme temperatures. Adaptation strategies and planning may consist of a wide variety of actions by an individual, community, or organization to prepare for, or respond to, the impacts of extreme weather.  
4.1.1 This guide does not address causes of extreme weather.  
4.1.2 This guide addresses adjustment strategies and planning that a group of people or ecosystems make to limit negative effects of extreme weather. It also addresses taking advantage of opportunities that long term extreme weather patterns may present.  
4.2 Example Users:  
4.2.1 Small businesses or enterprises;  
4.2.2 Service industries;  
4.2.3 Federal, state or municipal facilities and regulators, including departments of health and fire departments;  
4.2.4 Financial and insurance institutions;  
4.2.5 Public works staff, including water system, stormwater system, wastewater system, solid waste, and other utilities (electrical, telephone, gas, et al) and other waste managers, including liquid and solid waste haulers, treatment, recycling, disposal and transfer;  
4.2.6 Consultants, auditors, state, municipal and private inspectors and compliance assistance personnel;  
4.2.7 Educational facilities;  
4.2.8 Property, buildings and grounds management, including landscaping;  
4.2.9 Non-regulatory government agencies, such as the military;  
4.2.10 Wildlife management entities including government, tribal and NGOs.  
4.3 This guide is a first step in crafting simplified goals for managing and communic...
SCOPE
1.1 Overview—For the purposes of this guide, ‘resiliency’ refers to efforts by entities, organizations, or individuals to prepare for or adjust to future extreme weather and related physical conditions. The primary purpose is to reduce negative economic impacts associated with extreme weather.  
1.1.1 This guide presents a generalized, systematic approach to voluntary assessment and risk management of extreme climate related events and conditions. It helps the user structure their understanding of the climate related vulnerabilities and consequences they seek to manage. It helps the user identify adaptive actions of both an institutional (legal), as well as engineering (physical) nature. Options for analysis provide a priority ranking system to address the “worst first” risks of a municipality, local area or facility, addressing practicality and cost-benefit. Users may approach this analysis having initially undertaken a risk assessment to determine what they are seeking to manage, or use the guide to help determine the likely areas of greatest need.  
1.1.2 These climate adaptations or adjustments may be either protective (that is, guarding against negative impacts of extreme weather), or opportunistic (that is, taking advantage of any beneficial effects of extreme weather).  
1.1.3 This guide addresses adaptation strategies and planning in response to various impacts that may occur to individuals, organizations, human settlements or ecosystems in a broad variety of ways. For example, extreme weather might increase or decrease rainfall, influence agricultural crop yields, affect human health, cause changes to forests and other ecosystems, or impact energy supply or infrastructure.  
1.1.4 Climate-related impacts may occur locally within a region or across a country and may affect many sectors of the economy. In order to meet these challenges, this guide provides an organized, uniform approach to prepare for the impa...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Contaminated sites subject to remediation are growing in complexity and associated remediation costs, presenting a challenge for managers of contaminated sites. The need to properly monitor, evaluate, and report remediation processes (including physical, chemical, and biological) characterizing site conditions and contaminant mass and attenuation is critical for the evaluation and selection of effective remediation strategies. Assessment and characterization of biological processes associated with contaminant attenuation is supported and improved by the accurate and consistent use of molecular biological tools (MBTs) including data acquisition, interpretation, and reporting.  
4.2 The development of this guide through ASTM International is designed to meet the needs of managers of contaminated sites within the United States and elsewhere. The variety of available MBTs and the complexity with which they are currently being applied are not addressed in existing ASTM International Standards. The principal users of this guide should be industry project managers, regulators, consultants, analytical laboratories, and community stakeholders.
SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a framework for the application of molecular biological tools (MBTs) to assess and characterize in-situ biological processes to improve contaminated soil and groundwater management. While the focus of this guide is on in-situ biological processes, some concepts of how to apply MBTs can also be applied to ex-situ bioremediation approaches (for example, biopiles, bioreactors) to support design, operation, and troubleshooting. The intent of this guide is to develop a consistent way in which MBTs are applied at contaminated sites, not to develop expertise. Technical experts need to be engaged whenscoping, planning, executing, and interpreting data for MBTs. Lastly, there is a brief description of isotopic techniques within section 5.2; however, the scope and focus of this guide is the use of nucleic acid-based MBTs to assess biological processes at contaminated sites.  
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.3 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Hydrophobic organic liquids (for example, petroleum hydrocarbons, coal tars) may exist in the environment for long periods of time as NAPLs. Standardized guidance and test methods do not exist to assess NAPL movement (both pore-scale mobility and NAPL body-scale migration) in sediment. Literature searches have resulted in a limited body of available and applicable research. Current research has focused on site-specific sediment NAPL movement evaluation approaches.  
4.2 Standardized guidance and test methods currently exist for assessing NAPL mobility and migration at upland sites, from organizations such as ASTM International (Guides E2531 and E2856), Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (2), and the American Petroleum Institute (3, 4). Approaches commonly used in upland sites may or may not be applicable for any given sediment site. This guide provides perspectives on the applicability of various methodologies for specific sediment conditions.  
4.3 This guide describes various methodologies that are useful in sediment NAPL movement evaluation, such as laboratory test methods, calculation approaches, and field observation interpretation. The guide then provides frameworks to evaluate the data generated from these methodologies to determine if the NAPL observed in the sediments under in situ conditions exhibits movement of any kind.  
4.4 Important exposure pathways in upland sites are usually not applicable to sediment sites. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes, “Contaminants in the biologically active layer of the surface sediment at a site often drive exposure” (5). In aquatic environments, benthic organisms live in the surface sediment to maintain access to oxygenated overlying water. These benthic organisms are at the base of the food chain. If NAPL in subsurface sediment is not migrating, the NAPL will not move into the surface sediment and result in exposure to benthic organisms. NAPL that is stable and only present in subsurface se...
SCOPE
1.1 This guide discusses methodologies that can be applied to evaluate the potential for the movement (that is, pore-scale mobility or NAPL body-scale migration) of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) in sediments. NAPL movement assessment in sediments is significantly different than in upland soils. As such, the frameworks for evaluating NAPL movement in upland soils have limited applicability for sediments. In particular, because upland NAPL conceptual site models may not be applicable to many sediment sites, this guide provides a framework to evaluate whether NAPL is mobile (at the pore scale) or migrating (at the NAPL body scale) in sediments.  
1.2 Assessment of the potential for NAPL to move in sediment is important for several reasons, including (but not limited to) evaluation of risk to potential receptors, the need for potential remedial action, and potential remedial strategies. For example, if the NAPL is migrating, sensitive receptors may be impacted and this will influence the choice and timing of any remedy selected for an area of the sediment site. If the NAPL is not mobile or migrating, then remedial actions may not be warranted.  
1.3 This guide is applicable at sediment sites where NAPL has been identified in the sediment by various screening methods and the need for a NAPL movement evaluation is warranted (Guide E3248).  
1.4 Petroleum hydrocarbon, coal tar, and other tar NAPLs (including fuels, oils, and creosote) are the primary focus of this guide. These forms of contamination are commonly related to historical operations at refineries, petroleum distribution terminals, manufactured gas plants (MGPs), and various large industrial sites.  
1.5 Although certain technical aspects of this guide apply to other NAPLs (for example, dense NAPLs [DNAPLs] such as chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents), this guide does not completely address the additional complexities of those DNAPLs.  
1.6 The goal of this guide...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Uses—This practice sets forth a procedure for conducting limited environmental due diligence. This practice is intended for use on a voluntary basis by parties who wish to assess the environmental condition of a subject property where a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is, initially, deemed to be unnecessary by the user and the parties do not seek CERCLA LLPs. This practice is intended primarily as a commercially prudent or reasonable approach to conducting an inquiry designed to identify potential environmental concerns in connection with a subject property.  
4.2 Clarifications on Use:  
4.2.1 Use Not Intended for CERCLA Liability Protection—This document is not intended to permit a user to satisfy CERCLA LLPs, that is, the practices that constitute all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the subject property consistent with “generally accepted good commercial and customary standards and practices” as defined in 42 U.S.C. §9601(35)(B).  
4.2.2 Transaction Screen Does Not Identify Recognized Environmental Conditions—This practice does not define a scope of assessment sufficient to identify recognized environmental conditions as defined in Practice E1527 and Practice E2247.  
4.2.3 Residential Tenants/Purchasers and Others—Although this practice is not intended for residential purposes, it may be used at the user’s discretion for residential tenants of multifamily residential buildings, tenants of single-family homes or other residential real estate, or purchasers of dwellings for residential use to conduct a transaction screen in connection with these transactions.  
4.2.4 Site-Specific—This practice is site-specific in that it relates to assessment of environmental conditions at a subject property. Consequently, this practice does not address many additional issues raised in transactions such as purchases of business entities, or interests therein, or of their assets, that may well involve environmental liabilities pertaini...
SCOPE
1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this practice is to define a good practice in the United States of America for conducting a transaction screen2 for a subject property where the user wishes to conduct limited environmental due diligence (that is, less than a  Phase I Environmental Site Assessment). If the driving force behind the environmental due diligence is a desire to qualify for one of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Landowner Liability Protections (LLPs), this practice should not be applied. Instead, the ASTM E1527: Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process or ASTM E2247: Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property may be used.  
1.1.1 This practice will not satisfy the requirement to conduct all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the subject property consistent with “generally accepted good commercial and customary standards and practices” as defined in 42 U.S.C. §9601(35)(B) to qualify for one of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Landowner Liability Protections (LLPs). Users who desire to conduct environmental due diligence to qualify for one of the CERCLA  LLPs should conduct assessment activities in conformity with “Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries,” 40 C.F.R. Part 312; ASTM E1527: Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process or ASTM E2247: Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property.  
1.2 An evaluation of business environmental risk associated with a parcel of commercial real estate may necessitate investigation beyond that identified in this practice. See Sections 1.4 and 9.  
1.2...