§567. Certification or accreditation program

The Director of the Bureau of Health shall establish a laboratory certification or accreditation program to ensure that all generated data of laboratories subject to the program is of known and appropriate quality of precision and accuracy when utilized for departmental programs and programs administered by the Department of Environmental Protection. The Director of the Bureau of Health shall designate a laboratory certification officer to administer this program.   [PL 1999, c. 62, §3 (AMD).]

1.  Acceptable data.  Except as provided in this subsection, 6 months after the adoption of rules specified in subsection 2, certification is required of any commercial, industrial, municipal, state or federal laboratory that analyzes water, soil, air, solid or hazardous waste, or radiological samples for the use of programs of the department or the Department of Environmental Protection, except as provided under chapter 411, the Maine Medical Laboratory Act; Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 3-A, Substance Use Testing; and Title 29-A, section 2524, administration of tests to determine an alcohol level or drug concentration.

A laboratory operated by a waste discharge facility licensed pursuant to Title 38, section 413 may analyze waste discharges for total suspended solids, settleable solids, biological or biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, pH, chlorine residual, fecal coliform, E. coli, conductivity, color, temperature and dissolved oxygen without being certified under this section. The exception provided under this paragraph applies to a laboratory testing its own samples for pollutants listed in its permit or license; pretreatment samples; and samples from other wastewater treatment plants for up to 60 days per year. The time period provided in this paragraph, which is a maximum period for each treatment plant for which analysis is provided, may be extended by memorandum of agreement between the Department of Environmental Protection and the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory.

[PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §68 (AMD).]

2.  Certification or accreditation program requirements.  The department and the Department of Environmental Protection shall establish by rule program requirements, standards and criteria for the evaluation and certification or accreditation of laboratories.

[PL 1999, c. 62, §3 (AMD).]

3.  Certificate issued.  A laboratory must be issued a certificate when the laboratory certification officer determines that the laboratory has the capability to analyze samples with known and appropriate quality of precision and accuracy and is in compliance with other certification or accreditation requirements. Certificates are effective for 2 years from date of issuance provided the laboratory continues to be in compliance with certification or accreditation requirements.

[PL 1999, c. 62, §3 (AMD).]

4.  Certification or accreditation fees.  A certification or accreditation fee schedule based on the cost of certifying or accrediting laboratories must be established by rule. Certification or accreditation fees are payable upon application for certification or accreditation and must be deposited in the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory Special Revenue Account.

[PL 1999, c. 62, §3 (AMD).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1991, c. 499, §2 (NEW). PL 1991, c. 499, §26 (AFF). PL 1993, c. 537, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 65, §A59 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 65, §§A153,C15 (AFF). PL 1999, c. 62, §3 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 447, §21 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §68 (AMD).