ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY ADVISORY BOARD MEETING

Monthly Teleconference: 202-991-0477/7939251#, April 17, 2019; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET

MEETING SUMMARY

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board
(ELAB or Board) teleconference meeting was held on April 17, 2019. The agenda lor this
meeting is provided as Attachment A, a list of meeting participants is provided as Attachment B,
and action items are included as Attachment C. The official certification of the minutes by the
Chair or Vice-Chair and the Designated Federal Officer is included as Attachment D.

ROLL CALL/ INTRODUCTION

Mr. Mike Flournoy called the meeting to order and called roll.

APPROVAL OF THE PRIOR MINUTES

Ms. Sharon Mertens suggested edits, Mr. Mike Flournoy motioned to approve the March 2019
meeting minutes, with the proposed edits, and the minutes were approved unanimously.

OPENING REMARKS AND UPDATES FROM THE DFO

During Dr. Tom O'FarrelFs absence, Mr. Greg Susanke served as the acting DFO. Mr. Susanke
greeted the group, and informed ELAB that he would relay any questions and concerns to Dr.
O'Farrell when he returns on Monday.

TASK GROUP UPDATES ON CURRENT TOPICS

User-Generated Mass Spectra/ Library Acceptance Criteria

Dr. Brian Buckley recommended publishing an excerpt from the March 2019 ELAB meeting
minutes and the response letter from EPA on the ELAB website or a secondary letter with
ELAB's concerns with EPA's response. ELAB agreed to create a secondary letter which will
include part of the March 2019 ELAB meeting minutes to state ELAB's concerns with EPA's
response.

Acrolein and Acrylonitrile Preservation

Mr. Brad Meadows drafted a letter for AC1L members and has received feedback from the ESS
that letter is approved for distribution. The ESS will further discuss the letter in an upcoming


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meeting.

Mr. Meadows confirmed Ms. Mertcns and Dr. Michael Delaney that the preservation method
applies to acrolein or both acrolein and acrylonitrile. Ms. Mertcns read an excerpt from footnote
10. table 2. 136.3: "pH adjustment is not required if acrolein will not be measured. Samples for
acrolein not needing pi I adjustment must be analyzed within 3 days of sampling." Mr. Meadows
responded that the footnote docs not state whether acrylonitrile is stable at pH of 2. Not requiring
a pi I adjustment creates a problem for labs testing for both parameters that desire to use a
standard preservation of less than 2.

Next. Mr. Meadows hosted a discussion about the role of ELAB and the ACIL in the study. He
initially proposed forming a task group to design the study. Dr. Delaney inquired whether ACIL
should be designing study, instead of ELAB. Ms. Waller asked if the ELAB charter authorizes
ELAB to design studies. Ms. Waller and Ms. Mertens expressed the need for the study to be
reviewed and need for clear leadership and EPA involvement throughout the process. There was
a consensus that feedback is needed from Dr. O'Farrell regarding the role of ELAB. Mr.
Meadows asked whether this feedback is needed before finalizing the letter. Ms. Mertens
believes the feedback is necessary before any data is collected. Mr. Meadows clarified his
question by stating that the intent of the letter is only to create of list of possible labs that would
participate in the study. The next proposal was for ACIL to complete the study, and for ELAB to
advise them to involve EPA in the design process. Ms. Mertens disagrees, stating ELAB should
advise the EPA to sponsor a study, as advising the EPA is ELAB's responsibility. Dr. Delaney
volunteered to work with ACIL and Adrian Hanley (EPA) to develop the study. Mr. Susanke
agreed to ask Dr. O'Farrell what extent can ELAB be involved with the ACIL study. Lastly, the
question of whether ACIL is willing to do the study was addressed. Mr. Meadows responded that
ACIL has only agreed to allow ELAB to solicit labs to participants through the letter. They have
not agreed to do the study, but neither were they asked. Mr. Meadows will discuss this issue at
the ACIL ESS meeting.

600-Series Methods

Dr. Delaney presented this topic on behalf of Dr. Henry Leibovitz (absent). Dr. Leibovitz e-
mailed ELAB that the task group meeting was canceled, and that he planned to reschedule before
the next board meeting. Dr. Delaney has been reviewing responses to comments and collecting
input from those with issues with the current 600 series method. The concerns raised by Ms.
Stacie Crandall are shared by many of those commenting on the method. Dr. Delaney has been
tabulating responses that the EPA does not agree with and will present the results at the next task
group meeting.

OGWD W Guidance on Drinking Water MDLs

Dr. Delaney, Ms. Mertens, and Ms. Waller drafted a letter on drinking water MDLs and shared it
with ELAB. The letter discusses how the EPA distributed this guidance to regions and states but
has not released the guidance publicly, which resulted in some confusion. The letter asks the
EPA to be more transparent by releasing guidances publicly. Dr. Delaney proposed that everyone
review the letter, and if there are no additional edits or comments, that everyone vote. Ms.
Mertens suggested a vote by e-mail, because of the absences from the meeting, and everyone


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was in favor.

IDOC Requirements

Dr. Delaney presented this topic on behalf of Dr. Francoise Chauvin. Dr. Chauvin distributed a
letter to ELAB regarding imperfect IDOC data. Dr. Delaney proposed a vote by e-mail, if there
are no questions or comments. Ms. Waller raised concerns about the letter referencing a 2016
policy that does not take effect until 2020. She asked if the letter should include references to the
2009 policy, if they are identical. Ms. Mertens stated there is no issue, and that the answer
depends on the state. Dr. Delaney concluded the discussion, with everyone agreeing to vote by e-
mail.

Inactive Topics

a)	Whole Effluent Toxicity PT Standards

Dr. Delaney contacted Greg Savitske via e-mail to schedule a meeting about PT samples. To
date, there have been no replies, and Dr. Delaney will reach out again via telephone. Mr.
Flournoy will move this topic to active once a meeting has been schedule.

b)	in-Line/On-Line Monitoring

Mr. Flournoy will remove this from the inactive list, because there arc no further actions for
ELAB to take.

c)	Addressing Emerging Contaminants
There arc no updates on this topic.

d)	Drinking Water Program Adoption of Recently Approved Methods
There are no updates on this topic. ELAB will send a "thank you" e-mail.

NEW TOPICS/ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION

Ms. Waller announced open registration for the summer "NEMC."

Mr. Meadows announced a request from Scott Siders for ELAB to address the EPA Office of
Groundwater and Drinking Water's position on method flexibility. There are concerns about the
flexibility written into the method and how EPA officers arc enforcing it. Mr. Meadows will
distribute the letter lo ELAB, so ELAB can decide at the next meeting if this is a topic ELAB
will address.

Mr. Flournoy believes PFAS might be new topic in the future. Ms. Mertens that she expected to
bring Proficiency Test samples for PFAS to a future ELAB meeting.


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WRAP-UP/SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS

1.	Tom O'Farrell - Give guidance on the extent ELAB can be involved in a study by the
AOL to address acrolein and acrylonitrile pI I preservation.

2.	Mike Flournoy - Send final letter to EPA addressing OW guidance on Drinking Water
MDLs to the Board for voting.

3.	Mike Floumoy - Send final letter to EPA addressing I DOC requirements to the Board tor
voting.

4.	Brad Meadows - Forward email to Board from stakeholder regarding the confusion
between States and EPA on drinking water method flexibility. ELAB may want to
address this topic.

CLOSING REMARKS/ADJOURNMENT

The May 2019 ELAB Meeting will be held on May 15, 2019 at I pm Eastern.

Mr. Floumoy moved to adjourn at 2:02 p.m., and it was passed.


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Attachment A

AGENDA

Teleconference Numbers 202-991-0477 / 7939251#
April 17, 2019
Webconference:

epawebconferencing.acms.com/ofarrelll/

I.	Call Meeting to Order	Flournoy

II.	Introduction of Board Members/Roll Call	Board

III.	Approval of Minutes for Previous Meetings	Flournoy

IV.	Remarks and Updates from the DFO	Susanke (Acting DFO)

VI.	Updates on Current Topics

a.	User-Generated Library Acceptance Criteria		Buckley

b.	Acrolein and Acrylonitrile Preservation and pH		Meadows

c.	600-Series Methods		Leibovitz

d.	OGWDW Guidance on Drinking Water MDLs		Delaney

e.	IDOC requirements		Chauvin

f.	Inactive topics awaiting feedback/input:

¦	Whole Effluent Toxicity proficiency study standards

(is this back to active?)		Delaney

¦	In-Line/On-Line Monitoring		Flournoy

¦	Addressing Emerging Contaminants		Mertens

¦	Drinking Water Program Adoption of

Recent Approved Methods		Waller

VII.	New Topics/Issues for Consideration	Flournoy
What does the Laboratory community want ELAB to work on? (Waller)

VIII.	Wrap-Up/Summary of Action Items	Susanke/Flournoy

IX.	Closing Remarks/Adjourn	Susanke/ Flournoy


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Attachment B

PARTICIPANTS LIST

Board Members Attendance
(Y/N)

Name

Affiliation

Y

Dr. Michael (Mike) Delancy

Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority
(MWRA)

Representing: MWRA ;

Y

Mr. Michael Flournoy (Chair)

Eurollns Environment Testing

USA

Representing: American
Council of Independent
Laboratories

N

Dr. Thomas O'Farrell (DFO)

Greg Susanke acted as DFO

U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency

Representing: EPA

Y

Dr. Kim Anderson

Oregon State University

Representing: Academia-
Oregon State University

Y

Dr. Brian Buckley

Rutgers Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences
Institute

Representing: Academia and
Laboratory—Rutgers

N

Dr. Francoise Chauvin

NYC Dept. of Environmental
Protection

Representing: NYCDEP

N

Dr. Deyuan (Kitty) Kong

Chevron Energy Technology
Company


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Representing: Chevron

N

Ms. Stacie Crandall

Hampton Roads Sanitation
District

Representing: HSRD

N

Dr. Henry Leibovitz

Rhode Island State Health
Laboratories

Representing: Association of
Public Health Laboratories

Y

Mr. Brad Meadows (Vice
Chair)

Babcock Laboratories. Inc.

Representing: Commercial
Laboratory— Babcock
Laboratories. Inc.

Y

Ms. Sharon Mertens

Milwaukee Metropolitan
Sewerage District

Representing: The NELAC
Institute

N

Mr. Richard Gossett

PI IYSIS Labs

Representing: PHYSIS Labs

Y

Mr. David Thai

Environmental Standards Inc.

Representing: Environmental
Standards Inc.

Y

Dr. Jayesh Ghandi

Metrohm USA
Representing: Metrohm USA

Y

Ms. Debra (Deb) Waller

New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection

(NJDEP)

Kepivsenunu: State


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Government—NJDEP

N

Mr. Ray Frederici

TestAmerica

Representing: TestAmerica

PARTICIPANTS LIST (CONT)

Contractors and Guests
Attendance (Y/N)

Name

Affiliation

Y

Mr. Greg Susanke

EPA. Acting DFO

Y

Ms. Alexis Bryant

EPA

Y

Mr. Penny Shamblin

Hun ton, Andrews, Kurth




















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Attachment C

Action Items

1.	Tom O'Farrell - Give guidance on the extent ELAB can be involved in a study by the
ACIL to address acrolein and acrylonitrile pH preservation.

2.	Mike Flournoy - Send final letter to EPA addressing OW guidance on Drinking Water
MDLs to the Board for voting.

3.	Mike Flournoy - Send final letter to EPA addressing IDOC requirements to the Board for
voting.

4.	Brad Meadows - Forward email to Board from stakeholder regarding the confusion
between States and EPA on drinking water method flexibility. ELAB may want to
address this topic.


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Attachment I)

I hereby certify that this Is the final version of the mi miles for llie Environmental Laboratory
Advisory Board Meeting held on April 17, 2019.

Chair

X	, Cjufa

Dr. Thomas OTarrell
Desicmated Federal Officer


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