oEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency ©MS OFFICE of MISSION SUPPORT EPA Environmental Information Quality Assurance Project Plan Standard: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Mission Support, Office of Enterprise Information Programs, Enterprise Quality Management Division (EQMD) has revised the EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA QA/R-5, March 2001) and reissued as the Agency's Environmental Information Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) Standard. The directive was signed by the Chief Information Officer and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information on July 18, 2023. The new directive has been posted on the Quality Internet website and the Information Technology/Information Management Directives website. Now that the directive is updated, we will rescind EPA QA/R-5; EPA Systematic Planning: A Case Study for Hazardous Waste Site Investigations (QA/CS-1, February 2006; and EPA Systematic Planning: A Case Study of Particulate Matter Ambient Air Monitoring (QA/CS-2, EPA QA/CS-2). The directive defines the minimum requirements for QAPPs for all EPA organizations performing environmental information operations and non-EPA organizations performing environmental information operations on behalf of EPA. The QAPP is a formal planning document which describes how environmental information operations are planned, implemented, documented, and assessed during the life cycle of a project. The QAPP describes in comprehensive detail the necessary Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control requirements and other technical activities that must be implemented to ensure that the results of the environmental information operations performed will satisfy the stated performance and acceptance criteria. EPA Regional and Program Offices participated in the development of the QAPP Standard. Additionally, 36 states and 23 tribal organizations participated in the development of the QAPP Standard. Background: The Agency has a five-year requirement to review, revise, reissue or rescind its IT/IM directives. The Agency's QAPP Standard supports the implementation of EPA's Environmental Information Quality Policy and Procedure, Scientific Integrity Policy; and is consistent with the American Society for Quality/American National Standards Institute E4:2Q14 (R2019), Quality management systems for environmental information and technology programs—Requirements with guidance for use. The EQMD prepared communication materials and training for implementation of the new directive and will provide training for the Agency QA Managers in a "Train the Trainer" format in September 2023, which will allow them to train others. Point of Contact: Quality (Sepa.gov ------- |