Documentation pf standards and guidelines for design and monitoring of fish passage structures, as well as methodologies for passage evaluation and monitoring are critical for both fish passage and river restoration success. Presently, standards and guidelines are incompletely developed, our understanding of design has generally been based on field trial-and-error, and specific biological parameters that should form the basis of designs is often lacking. We describe the initial development of guidelines for design and operation of river restoration projects that include: dam removals, partial dam removals, bedrock modifications, backwatering weirs, dam and weir notches, rock ramps, and other hydraulic grade controls (e.g., cross-vanes, weirs). In this presentation we focus on design criteria for major East Coast target species such as Atlantic salmos, American shad, river herring, sturgeons, rainbow smelt, and American eel; and the rationale for development of these biological criteria. The developed practitioners/managers with documented, defensible guidelines to assist with selection, development, or review of structural designs and hydrologic and hydraulic conditions appropriate for sites and target species. Gaps in knowledge or absence of established guidelines are also identified along with suggestions for target criteria.