N.J. Admin. Code § 7:18-2.10

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 17, September 3, 2024

Section 7:18-2.10 - Environmental laboratory personnel requirements

(a) A certified environmental laboratory shall employ qualified personnel who possess the education, training, and experience required under this section. The laboratory shall maintain current employee records that include a resume and college transcript documenting each employee's training, experience, duties, and dates of relevant employment. The laboratory shall include at least the following personnel:

1. An environmental laboratory manager, who shall be the individual in responsible charge of the laboratory;

2. One or more supervisors, who shall be qualified in accordance with the applicable provisions of (b) below to perform the tests and analyses within the Category or Categories for which the environmental laboratory is certified, or seeks certification. The environmental laboratory manager may also serve as a supervisor provided that the manager meets the qualifications for supervisor;

3. A Quality Assurance (QA) Officer. For a laboratory that is certified or seeks to be certified in any of Categories CLP01 through 6, the QA Officer shall meet the applicable requirements of (b)9 below. For any other laboratory, the QA Officer shall meet the applicable requirements of (b) below for a supervisor in any Category, provided, however, that an individual who meets only the requirements for a supervisor in the Categories listed in (b)2 below may serve as the QA Officer only in those Categories; and

4. If required under (b) below, technical support staff, who shall be qualified in accordance with the applicable provisions of (b) below for the tests and analyses within the Category or Categories for which the environmental laboratory is certified, or seeks certification.

(b) No environmental laboratory shall be certified to perform analyses in a Category unless the supervisor and operating personnel (where so indicated) meet the following requirements:

1. For microbiological and parasitology and molecular microbiology testing in Categories DW01-DW02, NPW01-NPW02, and SCM01, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Microbiology Credits	Years of Experience Microbiological Analysis<3>
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	4<2>	1
B	AA<1>	4<2>	3
C	None	0<2>	5

<1> Degree in a chemical, physical, biological, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Courses from an accredited college, or equivalent course from a training institute if supervisor has less than four semester hours credit in bacteriology.

<3> Unless the requirements of footnotes 1 and 2 are more stringent, personnel requirements for Parasitology and Molecular Microbiology shall be in accordance with all associated method requirements.

2. For Chemical Testing in analyze-immediately and continuous monitoring Categories DW04 and NPW04, and Categories DW03 and NPW03 for turbidity and residue-settleable, the supervisor shall have had at least three months of experience in performing these tests;

3. For Chemical Testing in Inorganic Parameters, Characteristics of Hazardous Waste and Physical Analyses, Inorganic Parameters and Preparation, and Inorganics - Non-Metals Analysis Categories: DW03, NPW03, SCM02-03, AE01, and BT01, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Years of Chemical Experience Chemical Analysis and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	1<2>
B	AA<1>	3<2>
C	None	5<2>

<1> Degree in a chemical, physical, biological, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Have at least one year of laboratory experience in the chemical analysis of drinking water, non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples.

4. For Chemical Testing in Metals, Metals-ICP, ICP/MS and DCP, Metals Preparation Categories, Inorganics - Metals Analysis, and Asbestos Analysis Categories: DW05-DW07, NPW05-NPW08, SCM04-SCM07, AE02-AE03, AE07, and BT02-BT04, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Years of Chemical Experience Chemical Analysis and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	1<2>
B	AA<1>	3<2>
C	None	5<3>

<1> Degree in a chemical, physical, biological, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> At least one year of laboratory experience in the analysis of drinking water, non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples; and have six months experience in one or more instrumental techniques for the determination of metals, minerals (asbestos), metal ions, or anions, or have completed a formal training course in the operation of one or more of those instruments.

<3> Same as footnote 2 above except that three years of laboratory experience in the analysis of drinking water, non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples is required.

5. Operators of ICP/MS instruments shall meet the requirements of (b)4 above, but in addition, are required to have both six months operating experience and a formal training course in ICP/MS;

6. Operators of transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) shall meet one of the qualification levels of (b)4 above, but the number of years of experience required at all levels must include one year in determining asbestos in air or water using a TEM and energy dispersive x-ray analyzer. Operators shall have completed a formal training course in transmission electron microscopy;

7. For Chemical Testing in Organic Parameters - Chromatography, Organic Parameters - Chromatography/MS, Organic Sample Preparation Categories, Organics Analysis and Polychlorinated Dibenzo--p-dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans Categories: DW08-DW09, NPW09-NPW11, SCM08-SCM11, AE04, and BT05-BT07, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Years of Chemical Experience Chemical Analysis and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	1<2>
B	AA<1>	3<2>
C	None	5<3>

<1> Degree in a chemical, physical, biological, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Have at least one year of laboratory experience in chemical testing of drinking water, non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples; and have six months experience in the instrumental technique (GC, LC, GC/MS, or LC/MS) being practiced for the analysis of drinking water, non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples. A formal training course in the instrumental technique for which certification is sought may be substituted for the experience requirements.

<3> Same as footnote 2 above except that three years of laboratory experience in chemical testing of non-potable water, solid and chemical materials, air and/or emissions, or biological tissue samples is required.

8. Operators of GC/MS, and LC/MS instruments shall meet the requirements of (b)7 above, but in addition, are required to have both six months operating experience and a formal training course in the technique being practiced;

9. For Chemical Testing in Categories: NPW and SCM-Multi-Concentration Inorganics, NPW and SCM Multi-Concentration Organics, and NPW and SCM-Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans CLP01 - CLP06, the laboratory shall have qualified personnel to perform the analyses under the CLP categories of analysis.

10. For Radiochemical Testing in Radiochemistry - Radioactivity and Radionuclides, Radon in Drinking Water, Radon in Non-Potable Water, and Radionuclides Analysis Categories: DW10-DW11, NPW13-NPW14, SCM12, and AE05, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Years of Experience Chemical Analysis and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	5<2>
B	AA1	7<2>

<1> Degree in a chemical, radiochemical, radioisotope technology, biological, physical, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Two years of experience must be in radiochemical analysis.

11. For Category AE08, Radon/Radon Progeny-in-Air, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Years of Chemical Experience Chemical Analysis and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	2<2>
B	AA<1>	4<2>
C	None	6<2>

<1> Degree in a chemical, radiochemical, radioisotope technology, biological, physical, or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Two years of experience must be in radiochemical analysis.

12. For Toxicity Testing in Category NPW12, the supervisor shall meet the requirements of at least one of the qualification levels listed below:

Qualification Level	Degree	Credits	Years of Experience Toxicity Testing and/or Training
A	>/= BA/BS<1>	6<2>	1<3,4>
B	MA<3> or MS<3>	6<2>	_<4>

<1> Degree in a biological or environmental science from an accredited institution.

<2> Shall include or be supplemented by six semester credit hours in any of the following subjects:

(a) General Zoology;

(b) Biological Methods and Experimental Design;

(c) Ichthyology.

<3> Shall have successfully completed at least six definitive bioassays prior to applying for supervisor. The laboratory shall retain the documentation for these assays, and make it available during an audit by a representative of the Department.

<4> Demonstrate competency in the operation of bioassay equipment and techniques during an audit by a representative of the Department.

13. For Laboratory Developed and/or Non-Standard Method Categories: DW13, NPW16, SCM14, AE06, AE09 or BT08, the supervisor shall meet the most stringent requirements listed for the category area of interest.

14. If the bachelor degree is required and was granted from a regionally accredited United States or Canadian college or university, the requirement is satisfied. If the degree was granted by a foreign college or university, a copy of the evaluation by the World Education Service, Inc., P.O. Box 5087, Bowling Green Station, New York, NY 10274-5087, (212) 966-6311, shall be provided to the Department; and

15. The Department may waive the need for specified years of experience or academic training if an individual demonstrates that he or she has knowledge, expertise and ability that is at least equal to what would be expected from an individual with the required amount of experience and academic training.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:18-2.10

Administrative change, 46 N.J.R. 2279(a).

Amended by 47 N.J.R. 782(a), effective 4/20/2015.