National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) --Status of Emerging Program and How it Can Affect Your Compliance Data

摘要

Numbers reported by laboratories are used to make key decisions about the environment. Is ourrnwastewater within our permit limits? Is this solid waste hazardous according to regulations? Is thernsite clean enough to purchase or sell? The laboratory reports determine compliance or noncompliancernof a particular sample for many industries on a daily basis. The reliability of the datarngreatly influences the quality of the decisions that are made. Companies implementing ISO 14001rnare evaluating the quality of data from their internal and contractor laboratories. How the emergingrnNational Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) can support an organization’srnEnvironmental Management System is presented.rnSince 1990, nearly all 50 states and the various EPA program offices have been working to developrna consensus standard for laboratory competency, called NELAP. The first 11 states have beenrnapproved as Accrediting Authorities with the first round of laboratories scheduled to be accreditedrn1/01. This is the first program that has overwhelming support from many perspectives and has thernpotential to cover several environmental media (e.g., air, water, soil, and drinking water).rnThis presentation provides background on NELAP and the current status of the program. Thernstrengths and limitations of the program is presented from the data user perspective, including howrnNELAP compliments ISO 14001 implementation.