15A NCAC 02H .0803 DEFINITIONS
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).
History Note: 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.