Most chemicals and waste materials discharged into the marine environment contain fractions that eventually accumulate in sediment. Uncertainty about the ecological significance of sediment contamination to benthic, epibenthic, and pelagic communities has prompted development of methods for testing sediment toxicity. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Implementation Manual (1), mandated by the 1977 Ocean Dumping Regulations, provided the first guidance for sediment bioassays. During the next 7 years, a great variety of ecotoxicological methods were used to evaluate sediment contamination. The paper reviews these methods and evaluates their application in regulatory, monitoring, and research programs.