An environmental assessment on onshore waste disposal that is expected to occur with the development of commercial deep seabed mining was conducted in order that testing and refinement of nodule waste disposal techniques can be completed prior to 1988, when commercial seabed mining can begin under U.S. legislation. Three classes of process and four classes of waste disposal techniques were identified, and five sites were selected as representative of first-generation nodule operations. Each site-process-disposal technique combination was compared against potential effects to determine important characteristics of the rejects and the sites. Regulatory requirements were also considered at each site to identify important issues and their effect on the permitting process.