The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the establishment of the Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches and Uses in Clean Water Act Programs.
The committee will "evaluate and recommend detection and quantitation procedures for use in EPA's analytical methods programs for compliance monitoring" in Clean Water Act programs, the announcement states.
Specifically, the committee will analyze relevant scientific and statistical approaches, as well as "review data and interpretations of data using current and recommended approaches," the announcement said.
Establishment of the committee stems from a 2000 settlement agreement between EPA and several industry groups that had challenged the agency's revisions to a test used to measure low-level mercury concentrations in water, the announcement notes. The agreement requires EPA to review and revise it procedures for determining detection and quantitation limits under the Clean Water Act, the statement said.
For details, including background information on the committee's development, see www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2005/May/Day-13/w9718.htm.
Source: EPA
