Editors' Summary: The contamination of sediments in aquatic environments poses a direct threat to water quality, bottom-dwelling organisms, and animals feeding on those organisms. In recognition of the pervasive nature of this problem, several state and federal agencies are attempting to fashion guidelines for identifying, regulating, and cleaning up polluted sediments. This Article summarizes those efforts in light of the key regulatory and scientific dilemmas faced by agencies attempting to manage such sediments. Specifically, it provides a brief synopsis of the history and extent of contamination problems in the United States and the need for management strategies. A major problem in developing these management strategies has been defining what constitutes a "clean" or a "polluted" sediment. The Article summarizes historical and contemporary approaches to identifying polluted sediments and discusses hydrologic, biochemical, and regulatory problems involved with each methodology. It then examines the legal bases for federal management of aquatic sediments and what practitioners need to know when navigating current hazardous waste and water issues. The Article concludes with a discussion of the techniques for mitigating contamination in aquatic sediments and the difficulties practitioners and regulatory personal must address when implementing these techniques.