Applicants voluntarily present their educational and experience credentials to the Registry. After applications are approved, candidates sit for examination. Candidates who pass the examination are certified.
Certification is renewed annually after a review of continuing experience and education.
NRCC started a certification program for toxicological chemists in 1987. A Task Force on Safety Certification met in Washington, D.C. in 1994 and proposed the creation of a certification program for persons with responsibilities of Chemical Hygiene Officers as outlined in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Laboratory Standard. In 1996 a national panel of chemists developed guidelines for an examination based certification program and NRCC assumed the responsibility of developing, implementing, and administering a certification program for Chemical Hygiene Officers. A Task Force on Environmental Certification met in Washington, D.C. in 1994 and recommended establishing a certification program for Environmental Analytical Chemists. The Task Force saw a need for a certification program to identify chemists and technicians prepared to handle specific environmental problems related to protecting the environment in the public interest.