Abstract: Ongoing research within the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Defense, and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in partnership with Molloy & Associates, aims to discover and develop biological controls to mitigate the negative effects of non-native dreissenid mussels on natural and human-made environments in the US. Although biological control technologies have been employed for decades to manage arthropod and plant pests, the workflow required to successfully develop and permit an agent for invasive bivalves has been unclear. Since 2020, the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has been collaborating with the project team to compile the information needed to permit biological control agents for Dreissena spp. (i.e., zebra and quagga mussels) in the US. Permitting should cover (1) collection in the native or source country and export to the US, (2) importation (nonrelease) into the US, and (3) field (environmental) release of agents. Because Dreissena are nontraditional targets for biological control, the regulatory issues surrounding their management will differ from other common targets, such as invasive plants and arthropods. This document provides background information on biological control, describes how this project is different from most programs implemented in the US, speculates on what invasive mussel biological controls might be, and provides a road map for successful permitting of Dreissena biological controls. Additionally, other nontraditional, but good, targets for biological control may exist and have been overlooked. These other opportunities are briefly discussed. This report is the result of conversations between the project team and federal regulators, and it represents the best possible information needed to permit agents for invasive mussels in the US.