The National Bureau of Standards (NBS), in cooperation with the Environment Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, is engaged in a research program establishing methodology for environmental sample banking. This program is aimed toward evaluating the feasibility of a National Environment Specimen Bank (NESB). The program currently under way in the NBS Analytical Chemistry Division has 3 main components. The first is an extension survey of available literature concerning problems of contamination, losses and storage. The second component is an experimental evaluation of contamination and losses during sampling and sample handling. The third component of this program is an evaluation of existing methodology for long-term sample storage. This program is a concerted effort to bring together many aspects of sampling, sample handling, and storage. The results seem to be useful not only for sample banking purposes but to the general trace substance analytical community as well.