Okla. Admin. Code § 252:307-1-3
In addition to the definitions contained in Title 27A of the Oklahoma Statutes, OAC 252:4 (Department of Environmental Quality Rules of Practice and Procedure) and the TNI Standard, the following words or terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Any technical term not defined shall be defined by its generally accepted scientific meaning or its standard dictionary meaning.
"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 DEQ.
"Accreditation" or "accredited" means the process by which the DEQ evaluates an environmental laboratory's quality systems, staff, facilities, equipment, test methods, records and reports against the requirements of this Chapter. Laboratories determined to meet the qualifications and standards of this Chapter are thereby accredited. The term certification, as used in 27A O.S. §2-4-101, is synonymous with the term accreditation.
"Accreditation Body" means a governmental agency that holds a current Certificate of Recognition from TNI to administer a laboratory accreditation program.
"Analyte" means the component, compound, element or isotope to be identified or quantified using a test or analysis.
"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.
"Assessment" means the evaluation process used to measure or establish the performance, effectiveness, and conformance of a laboratory to the standards and requirements of this Chapter. The term "Evaluation" as used in 27A O.S. § 2-4-101, is synonymous with the term "Assessment".
"Basic environmental laboratory" means a laboratory that is limited to the following analytes: five day biochemical oxygen demand, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon (TOC), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate-nitrite nitrogen, organic nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, total dissolved solids (filterable residue), total suspended solids (non-filterable residue), volatile residue, total phosphorous, orthophosphate phosphorus (reactive phosphorus), chloride, fluoride, oil and grease, sulfate, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, total residual chlorine, hardness, alkalinity, color, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, total coliform, cyanide, phenolics, copper, zinc, iron, sulfide, chromium, and hexavalent chromium.
"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.
"Category" means a set of Fields of Accreditation subject to a single fee.
"Certificate" or "Certificate of Accreditation" is a document issued by DEQ acknowledging that an environmental laboratory has met standards for accreditation, and identifying those Fields of Accreditation for which the laboratory is accredited.
"Critical nonconformity" or"critical finding" means a conclusion of noncompliance that would require an immediate corrective action or an immediate stop to testing.
"Corrective Action Plan" or "Corrective Action Report" is a written plan of action, including a schedule for implementation, to correct deficiencies or findings identified in the DEQ or DEQ-approved agent's assessment report, including a time line for implementation; or to eliminate the causes of an existing nonconformity, defect or other undesirable situation in order to prevent its recurrence.
"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.
"Field of Accreditation (FoA)" means those category, matrix, technology/method, and analyte combinations for which DEQ offers accreditation.
"Finding" means a conclusion of noncompliance or nonconformity of the evaluation process, referenced to the TNI Standard and 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 filing for an accreditation status issued to a DEQ accredited laboratory for a Field of Accreditation or a category not currently accredited by the DEQ, or where appropriate, temporary accreditation status for a laboratory that has met all accreditation criteria except for a pending on-site assessment which has been delayed for reasons beyond the control of the laboratory.
"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.
"Matrix" means the substrate of a test sample, e.g., drinking water, wastewater, other aqueous, or solid.
"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).
"Nonconformity" means a conclusion of noncompliance of the evaluation process, referenced to the TNI Standard and supported by objective evidence. Also may be considered a Finding.
"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 synonymous with "analyte".
"Primary accreditation" is authorization issued to an Oklahoma laboratory following an assessment of the laboratory's total quality system, on-site assessment, and proficiency testing for fields of accreditation.
"Primary accreditation body" (Primary AB) means the accreditation body responsible for assessing a laboratory's total quality system, on-site assessment, and proficiency testing (PT) performance tracking for fields of accreditation.
"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.
"Quality manual" means a document stating the management policies, objectives, principles, organizational structure and authority, responsibilities, accountability, and implementation of the laboratory to ensure the quality of its product and the utility of its product to its users. The Quality Manual will ensure the generation of data that are scientifically valid, defensible and of known and acceptable limits of precision and accuracy.
"Quality system" means a structured and documented management system describing the policies, objective, principles, organizational authority, responsibilities, accountability, and implementation plan of a laboratory for ensuring quality in its work processes, products and services. The quality system provides the framework for planning, implementing, and assessing work performed by the laboratory and for carrying out required quality assurance and quality control activities.
"Secondary accreditation" is authorization issued to a laboratory based on recognition and review of an existing primary accreditation for the same fields of accreditation.
"Secondary accreditation body" (Secondary AB) means an accreditation body that grants laboratory accreditation for a field of accreditation based on recognition of accreditation from a Primary Accreditation Body for the same fields of accreditation.
"Standard operating procedures" (SOPs) means a written document approved by a laboratory director that details the method for an operation, analysis, or action, with thoroughly prescribed techniques and steps. SOPs include the methods for performing certain routine or repetitive tasks.
"Synthetic organic chemicals" (SOCs) are man-made organic chemicals that are less volatile than volatile organic compounds. SOCs are used as pesticides, defoliants, fuel additives and as ingredients for other organic compounds.
"The NELAC Institute" (TNI) means an organization of federal and state agencies whose purpose is to foster the generation of environmental data of known and documented quality through an open, inclusive, and transparent process that is responsive to the needs of the environmental laboratory community. The TNI Consensus Standards Development Program (CSDP) establishes compliance standards that reflect the best professional practices in the environmental laboratory industry. The TNI National Environmental Laboratories Accreditation Program (NELAP) implements TNI's consensus standards through state agencies recognized by TNI as Accreditation Bodies. DEQ is the TNI Accreditation Body in the State of Oklahoma.
"TNI Standard" means the performance standard for analytical testing of environmental samples and the laboratory accreditation process adopted by TNI, current to the date incorporated by reference in this Chapter.
Okla. Admin. Code § 252:307-1-3