1. Assessment of Sediment Quality in San Francisco Estuary RMP EEWG Meeting September 6, 2007 SCCWRP Team: Bay, Ranasinghe, Ritter, Barnett, Weisberg SFEI Team: Thompson, Lowe, Connor

2. A new regulatory approach Methods development since 2004 Scheduled implementation in 2008 CALIFORNIA SEDIMENT QUALITY OBJECTIVES (SQO) FOR BAYS AND ESTUARIES

3. SQO Indicators 1. Chemistry Indicators (SQGs) –Chem-Tox: CA LRM (maximum probability of toxicity) –Chem-Benthos: CSI (weighted mean score) 2. Sediment Toxicity –Amphipod survival (Eohaustorius estuarius) 3. Benthic Indices –Benthic Response Index (BRI) –Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) –Relative Benthic Index (RBI) –River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS) Three Lines of Evidence for Direct Effects:

4. MLOE Conceptual Framework Direct Effects Severity of Effect Potential for Chemically Mediated Effect Station Assessment BenthosToxicityChemistryToxicity

5. 2. Overall SQO Assessment combines 3 Lines of Evidence into 6 categories: 1. Each line of evidence uses 4 categories of impact: No impact Low Moderate High SQO Site Classification Process Unimpacted Likely unimpacted Possibly impacted Likely impacted Clearly impacted Inconclusive

6. STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT OF SEDIMENT QUALITY BAYS Objectives: Apply assessment framework and tools to available data - “Test Drive” Estimate area of state with unimpacted/impacted sediment quality –EPA 305(b) Report Compare waterbody condition with previous assessments (303(d)

7. Data Random sampling data was used in order to make assessments based on area

9. Results

10. Regional Estimates NorthSFBSouth Category% Area Unimpacted58043 Likely Unimpacted18419 Possibly Impacted177324 Likely Impacted41912 Clearly Impacted042 Inconclusive30<1

11. Assessment of RMP and BPTCP Samples RMP Study Objectives: Put statewide assessment into perspective Facilitate interpretation of SFE SQO results Data: 60 samples, 7 sites, 2 assemblages, 1994-2000. NOT random

14. Relationship between CA LRM and mean ERM quotient in San Francisco Estuary CA LRM mERMqmERMq Spearman’s r = 0.714 p < 0.0001, n = 94

16. Summary SQO methods provide overall assessment of sediment condition using MLOEs Most of state’s marine embayments have impacted sediments San Francisco Estuary has more impacted area than other Bays Difference in incidence of impacts between two sets of samples Additional analyses and studies needed to refine and interpret results –Particularly identification of causes of observed impacts, ‘stressor identification’