APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY

Framework for Dredged Material Management

May 2004

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY

Definitions of terms as they are used in this document are given below.

Aquatic environment

The geochemical environment in which dredged material is submerged under

water and remains water saturated after disposal is completed.

Aquatic ecosystem

Bodies of water, including wetlands, which serve as the habitat for interrelated

and interacting communities and populations of plants and animals.

Baseline

Belt of the seas measured from the line of ordinary low water along that portion

of the coast that is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the

seaward limit of inland waters (see Figure 1-1 in the main text).

Beneficial uses

Placement or use of dredged material for some productive purpose. Beneficial

uses may involve either the dredged material or the placement site as the integral

component of the beneficial use.

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of contaminants in the tissues of organisms through any route,

including respiration, ingestion, or direct contact with contaminated water,

sediment, or dredged material.

Capping

The controlled, accurate placement of contaminated material at an open-water

site, followed by a covering or cap of clean isolating material.

Coastal zone

Includes coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands designated by a State as being

included within its approved coastal zone management program. The coastal zone

may include open waters, estuaries, bays, inlets, lagoons, marshes, swamps,

mangroves, beaches, dunes, bluffs, and coastal uplands. Coastal-zone uses can

include housing, recreation, wildlife habitat, resource extraction, fishing,

aquaculture, transportation, energy generation, commercial development, and

waste disposal.

Confined disposal

Placement of dredged material within diked nearshore or upland confined disposal

facilities (CDFs) that enclose the disposal area above any adjacent water surface,