North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 02 - Environmental Management › Subchapter H - PROCEDURES FOR PERMITS: APPROVALS › Section .0800 - LABORATORY CERTIFICATION › Section 02H .0803 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
The following terms as used in this Section shall have the
					 assigned meaning:
(1) "Acceptable
				  Proficiency Testing Results" means those results on Proficiency Testing Samples
				  that are within the Vendor-specified acceptable range as indicated by a Vendor
				  or Split Samples that are within the specified acceptance range as provided by
				  the State Laboratory.
(2)
				  "Analytical Chemistry Experience" means experience analyzing samples in a
				  chemistry laboratory or supervising a chemistry laboratory that analyzes
				  samples.
(3) "Approved Procedure"
				  means an analytical procedure based upon reference methods found in Rule
				  .0805(a)(1)(A) through (E) of this Section, and approved for use for monitoring
				  subject to
				  G.S.
				  143-215.1 and
				  143-215.63 and the rules of this
				  Section. State Laboratory Approved Procedures for Field Parameters may be
				  obtained by request from the State Laboratory or on the State Laboratory
				  Certification website at
https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-resources-data/water-sciences-home-page/laboratory-certification-branch
.
(4) "Certification" means a declaration by
				  the State Laboratory that the personnel, equipment, records, quality control
				  procedures, and methodology cited by the applicant comply with these Rules and
				  that the applicant's proficiency with analytical chemistry has been considered
				  and found to be acceptable by the State Laboratory pursuant to these
				  Rules.
(5) "Certified Data" means
				  any analytical result, including the Supporting Records, obtained using a
				  method or procedure pursuant to Rule .0805(a)(1)(A) through (F) of this
				  Section.
(6) "CFR" means the Code
				  of Federal Regulations.
(7)
				  "Commercial Laboratory" means any laboratory, including its agents or
				  employees, which is seeking to analyze or is analyzing samples in a chemistry
				  laboratory or in a field setting, including Field Parameters, for others for a
				  fee.
(8) "Decertification" means
				  loss of Certification.
(9)
				  "Director" means the Director of the Division of Water Resources.
(10) "Division" means the Division of Water
				  Resources.
(11) "Falsified Data or
				  Information" means data or information that, whether by intent or disregard for
				  accuracy, has been altered, fabricated, or otherwise mischaracterized by
				  omission or substitution, such that the value or information reported is
				  incorrect, incomplete, or inaccurate.
(12) "Field Laboratory" means a laboratory,
				  including its agents or employees, that is seeking Certification to analyze or
				  is analyzing samples in a chemistry laboratory or a field setting for Field
				  Parameters only.
(13) "Field
				  Parameters" shall include Total Residual Chlorine, Free Available Chlorine,
				  Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Settleable Residue, Salinity, Sulfite,
				  Turbidity, Temperature, Vector Attraction Reduction Option 5, Vector Attraction
				  Reduction Option 6, and Vector Attraction Reduction Option 12.
(14) "Inaccurate Data or Other Information"
				  means data or information that is in any way incorrect or mistaken.
(15) "Industrial Laboratory" means a
				  laboratory, including its agents or employees, operated by an industry to
				  analyze samples in a chemistry laboratory or in a field setting under the scope
				  of these Rules.
(16) "In-situ"
				  means in the original or natural place or site.
(17) "Matrix Spike" means an additional
				  aliquot of an environmental sample to which a known concentration of the
				  analytes of interest is added before sample preparation, cleanup, and
				  determinative procedures have been implemented. It is used to assess the
				  performance of the method by measuring the effects of interferences caused by
				  the sample matrix and reflects the bias of the method for the particular matrix
				  in question.
(18) "Mobile
				  Laboratory" means a collection of analytical equipment and instruments
				  contained in an environmentally controlled vehicle that can be deployed to a
				  project site for other than Field Laboratory Certification purposes.
(19) "Municipal Laboratory" means a
				  laboratory, including its agents or employees, operated by a municipality or
				  other local government to analyze samples in a chemistry laboratory or in a
				  field setting under the scope of these Rules. Municipal Laboratories may
				  cost-share among Municipal Laboratories or charge a cost recovery fee or
				  surcharge to operate their Pretreatment Program.
(20) "Other Laboratory" means a facility that
				  is not required to obtain State Laboratory Certification as part of its routine
				  operation and does not analyze samples in a chemistry laboratory or in a field
				  setting for a fee, or is doing business as a non-profit facility.
(21) "Parameter" means the analyte, element,
				  compound, or property being measured.
(22) "Parameter Method" means a type of
				  analytical technique, including materials and tools, used to measure a
				  Parameter.
(23) "Pretreatment
				  Program" means a program of waste pretreatment requirements set up in
				  accordance with
				  15A NCAC
				  02H .0900, and approved by the
				  Division.
(24) "Proficiency Testing
				  (PT) Sample" means a performance evaluation sample whose true value is unknown
				  to the laboratory and provided by a State Laboratory-approved Vendor to test
				  whether the laboratory can produce analytical results within the specified
				  acceptance criteria.
(25)
				  "Recertification" means re-instating Certification at the end of the
				  Decertification period imposed by the Division pursuant to Rule .0807 of this
				  Section.
(26) "Reference
				  Temperature-Measuring Device" means a National Institute of Standards and
				  Technology (NIST) traceable temperature-measuring device used only to verify
				  the calibration of other temperature-measuring devices.
(27) "Root Cause" means the originating
				  factor that caused a nonconformance.
(28) "Second Source" means reference
				  solutions from a different manufacturer or from the same manufacturer and
				  identified by a different lot number.
(29) "Split Sample" means two or more
				  representative portions taken from a sample or subsample and analyzed by two or
				  more laboratories approved by the State Laboratory.
(30) "Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)"
				  means a laboratory's analytical or operational procedures, described with
				  sufficient detail to allow someone similarly qualified to reproduce the
				  procedures used to generate the test or desired result.
(31) "State" means the North Carolina
				  Department of Environmental Quality.
(32) "State Laboratory" means the Water
				  Sciences Section, including the Laboratory Certification Branch of the North
				  Carolina Division of Water Resources.
(33) "Supporting Record" means any document
				  or other source of information compiled, recorded, or stored in written form,
				  by electronic process, or in any other manner that provides any information
				  necessary to reconstruct or characterize a reported value.
(34) "Unacceptable Proficiency Testing
				  Results" means those results on Proficiency Testing Samples that do not fall
				  within the Vendor-specified acceptable range as stated by a State
				  Laboratory-approved Vendor, or Split Samples that do not fall within the
				  specified acceptable range as indicated by the State Laboratory, or a failure
				  to meet a reporting deadline imposed by the Vendor or State
				  Laboratory.
(35) "Uncertified Data"
				  means any analytical result, including the Supporting Records, obtained using a
				  method or procedure that is not acceptable to the State Laboratory pursuant to
				  these Rules; analytical results produced by a laboratory for an analysis not
				  within the scope of the rules of this Section; or analytical results produced
				  by a laboratory without proper Certification.
(36) "US EPA" means the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency.
(37) "Vector Attraction Reduction Option"
				  refers to an option for demonstrating a reduction in vector attraction of
				  sewage sludge listed in 40
				  CFR 503.33(b)(1) through
				  (b)(12).
(38) "Vendor" means an accredited Proficiency
				  Testing Sample provider recognized by The NELAC Institute (TNI).
Authority
					 G.S.
					 143-215.3(a)(1);
					 143-215.3(a)(10);
Eff. February 1, 1976;
Amended Eff. November 2, 1992; December 1,
					 1984; November 1, 1978;
Temporary Amendment Eff. October 1,
					 2001;
Amended Eff. August 1, 2002;
Readopted Eff. July
					 1, 2019.