develop consensus standards for use by TNI's programs. This group has a support role in assisting other programs with activities such as guidance and standards interpretation.
fosters the generation of data of known and documented quality is through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, or NELAP. The purpose of this program is to establish and implement a program for the accreditation of environmental laboratories.
is to establish and maintain a national PT program to support TNI’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, and other activities.
Field Activities Program (NEFAP) Executive Committee is to establish and implement an accreditation program for field sampling and measurement organizations (FSMOs).
Audit Sample Program is to develop consensus standards for the manufacture and analysis of audit samples for source emission testing.
on a variety of topics of interest to the environmental measurement community. TNI also hosts two regularly scheduled meetings per year, typically in January and August. Both are a week long and involve open meetings of TNI committees as well as training courses and other special sessions.Withdrawal of LA DOH from NELAP
Date Posted: 9-2-2020
On August 3, 2020, the Louisiana Department of Health formally notified the NELAP Accreditation Council of their intent to withdraw from NELAP on August 20, 2020 and revert back to a drinking water certification program based on the EPA certification manual. DOH currently accredits 9 laboratories, 3 in Louisiana and 6 out of state as a primary AB. DOH also recognizes 23 laboratories as a secondary AB. The primary reason for this decision was stated to be the cost to accredit the out of state laboratories.
Kristin Brown, Chair of the NELAP Accreditation Council, has reached out to these 9 laboratories to let them know that we are there to help them transition to another NELAP AB or NGAB if they choose to do so. TNI plans to maintain their accreditation status in LAMS until their current certificate would expire at the end of the year. LA DOH will accept NELAP accreditations into its state certification program, so that the 23 labs with secondary recognition will need to work with LA DOH to ensure that they remain able to report data to LA DOH's drinking water program.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality continues to be a recognized NELAP accreditation Body for all fields of testing other than drinking water.