Okla. Admin. Code § 252:301-1-3

Current through Vol. 41, No. 19, June 17, 2024
Section 252:301-1-3 - Definitions

In addition to the definitions contained in the Environmental Quality Code (27A O.S. § 2-1-101 et seq.) and OAC 252:4 (Department of Environmental Quality Rules of Practice and Procedure), the following words or terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Acceptable results", as defined in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101, means a result within limits determined on the basis of statistical procedures as prescribed by the Department.

"Accreditation" means the process by which the DEQ recognizes a laboratory as meeting certain predetermined qualifications or standards, thereby accrediting the laboratory.

"Analyte" means the characteristics of a laboratory sample determined by an analytical laboratory testing procedure and is synonymous with "parameter." For purposes of this Chapter, "analyte" also means one of a set of inorganic or organic chemical, physical, radiochemical or microbiological properties whose value determines the characteristics of a water or wastewater sample.

"Applicant" means the owner of a laboratory, or a representative authorized by the owner to act on the owner's behalf, seeking accreditation from the DEQ.

"Applicant laboratory" means the laboratory and its owner or authorized representative for which an application for accreditation has been filed with the DEQ.

"Approved method" means an analytical test method which has been required by law or is recognized by the DEQ as acceptable for a specific usage.

"Blind audit" means a process whereby the DEQ or any other designated agent submits proficiency testing samples to an accredited laboratory in a manner such that the laboratory is not aware of the process.

"Certificate" is defined in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101 and means the same as laboratory accreditation and includes primary accreditation and reciprocity accreditation.

"Corrective Action Plan" is a written plan of action, including a schedule for implementation, to correct deficiencies identified in the DEQ or DEQ-approved agent's inspection report, including a timeline for implementation; or to eliminate the causes of an existing nonconformity, defect or other undesirable situation in order to prevent its recurrence.

"Critical Finding" means a conclusion of noncompliance that would require an immediate corrective action or an immediate stop to testing.

"DEQ" means the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. For purposes of certifications issued and enforcement matters arising prior to July 1, 1993, "DEQ" also means predecessor agencies of the DEQ which had jurisdiction over environmental water quality laboratories on June 30, 1993.

"Evaluation", as defined in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101, means a review of the quality control and quality assurance procedures, recordkeeping, reporting procedures, methodology, personal qualifications, equipment, facilities and analytical technique of a laboratory for measuring or establishing specific parameters.

"Finding" means a conclusion of noncompliance of the evaluation process supported by objective evidence.

"Initial accreditation" means a first-time accreditation granted to a laboratory not previously accredited by the DEQ.

"Interim accreditation" means an out-of-time accreditation issued to a DEQ accredited laboratory in analytes for which the laboratory is not currently accredited by the DEQ.

"Laboratory", as defined in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101, means a facility that performs analyses to determine the chemical, physical or biological properties of air, water, solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater or soil or subsoil materials or performs any other analyses related to environmental quality evaluations. "Laboratory" includes mobile laboratories.

"Laboratory waste" means by-products of the analytical process, residues of samples analyzed, discarded reagents or standards and any materials contaminated by any of these.

"Mobile laboratory" means a mobile facility that performs analyses in a self-contained environment with professional analytical instrumentation, excluding field testing of those analytes that require immediate measurement on site (conductivity, residual chlorine, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature).

"Owner" means the sole proprietor of an individually owned laboratory, the controlling or managing partner of a laboratory held by a partnership, the major stockholders of a corporate owned laboratory, or a municipality or other local government entity which owns or operates a laboratory.

"Parameter" is defined in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101 and is synonymous with "analyte."

"Proficiency testing (PT) sample" means a sample submitted to a laboratory by the DEQ or other designated agent for the purpose of assessing the ability of the laboratory to correctly analyze samples using an approved method.

"Program" means the DEQ laboratory accreditation program.

"QA Plan" or "Quality Assurance Plan" means a written description of quality assurance activities (quality control) that will ensure the generation of data that are scientifically valid, defensible, and of known and acceptable limits of precision and accuracy.

"SOP manual" or "Standard Operating Procedure manual" means a document approved by a laboratory director that includes approved methods, equipment and instruments used by the laboratory for analyses.

Okla. Admin. Code § 252:301-1-3

Added at 25 Ok Reg 2247, eff 7-11-08
Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 36, Issue 24, September 3, 2019, eff. 9/15/2019