Availability, Adequacy, and Comparability of Testing Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Established Under Section 304(h) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Report to Congress

摘要

Section 518 of the Water Quality Act of 1987, directed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to study the availability and adequacy of field and laboratory test procedures and methods to support the provisions of the Act. It also requested that the Agency study the comparability of laboratory test procedures among major federal environmental programs. In the study: (1) monitoring requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) and other environmental legislation were reviewed; (2) test procedures in 40 CFR 136 were evaluated to determine the degree to which they support the FWPCA monitoring requirements; (3) the adequacy and comparability of quality assurance/quality control programs (QA/QC) to support the FWPCA were evaluated. The major findings and recommendations resulting from the study were stated in the report.