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Procedures for Detection and Quantitation
This Federal Advisory Committee was convened in June 2005 to provide advice and recommendations on approaches for the development of detection and quantitation procedures and uses of these procedures in CWA programs. The Committee concluded its business on December 21, 2007, and submitted their report to the EPA Administrator.
This report provides advice and recommendations for the development of an improved procedure for determining detection and quantitation limits, and use of these limits in NPDES permit reporting and compliance determinations. The Committee deliberated for two and half years on challenging policy and technical issues related to detection and quantitation limits, particularly in those situations where Water-Quality-Based Effluent Limits are below analytical method detection capabilities.
The Committee represented a balanced membership from the environmental community, environmental laboratories, industry, public utilities, and states.
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- Report of the Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches and Uses in Clean Water Act Programs (PDF) (176 pp., 2.0 MB) (December 2007)
Additional information:
Federal Advisory Committee Meetings
- 12th FACA Meeting, December 21, 2007 (teleconference).
- The purpose of this meeting was to finalize the report document, Report of the Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches and Uses in Clean Water Act Programs (PDF) (176 pp., 2.0 MB) (December 2007)
- Federal Register Meeting Notice (December 12, 2007)
- 11th FACA Meeting, December 05–06, 2007: Agenda and Background Materials
- Tenth FACA Meeting, September 19–21, 2007: Agenda and Background Materials
- DQFAC Single Lab Procedure Version 2.4 (PDF) (11 pp., 67K)
- Ninth FACA Meeting, August 28, 2007 (teleconference): Agenda and Background Materials
- Ninth Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (9 pp., 44K)
- Eighth FACA Meeting, July 25, 2007 (teleconference): Agenda, Protocol and Background Materials
- Eighth Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (10 pp., 47K)
- Seventh FACA Meeting, June 6–8, 2007: Agenda and Background Materials
- Sixth FACA Meeting, December 6–8, 2006: Agenda and Background Materials
- Sixth Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (35 pp., 147 K)
- Fifth FACA Meeting, July 13-14, 2006: Final Agenda and Background Materials
- Fifth Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (37 pp., 137 K)
- Fourth FACA Meeting, March 29–30, 2006: Final Agenda and Background Materials
- Fourth Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (27 pp., 105 K)
- Third FACA Meeting, December 8–9, 2005: Final Agenda
- Third Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (36 pp., 197 K)
- Second FACA Meeting, September 29–30, 2005: Final Agenda
- Second Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (48 pp., 171 K)
- First FACA Meeting, June 21–22, 2005: Final Agenda
- First Meeting Final Summary (PDF) (36 pp., 197 K)
- EPA established an official public docket for this committee. The docket can be accessed at Regulations.gov (docket number EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0041).
Workgroups
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Background
- Revised Assessment—This assessment discusses statistical, chemical, and regulatory issues related to detection and quantitation and different approaches to detection and quantitation.
- Revised Assessment of Detection and Quantitation Approaches (PDF) (254 pp., 1.7 MB) (October 2004)
This document supersedes the Technical Support Document for the Assessment of Detection and Quantitation Approaches, February 2003.
- Revised Assessment of Detection and Quantitation Approaches (PDF) (254 pp., 1.7 MB) (October 2004)
Proposed Rule Withdrawal
We withdrew our March 2003 proposal to revise detection and quantitation procedures. Our decision to withdraw the proposal was based on the divergent views on the proposed revisions and a desire to improve the procedures through a stakeholder dialogue.
We conducted this dialogue by convening a Federal Advisory Committee in June 2005. The Committee completed their work in December 2007.
Withdrawal
- Fact Sheet about the proposed rule withdrawal
- Federal Register Notice of the Withdrawal (November 8, 2004)
The docket for this proposed rule withdrawal is available through Regulations.gov (EPA-HQ-OW-2003-0002).
Proposed Rule
- Fact Sheet about the proposed rule
- Proposed Rule published in the Federal Register (March 12, 2003)