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Expedited Method Approval Process
EPA can use an expedited process to announce the approval of new drinking water analytical methods in the Federal Register. The process provides laboratories and water systems more timely access to new methods than the traditional rulemaking process.
- Expedited Method Approval Requirements
- Expedited Method Approval Federal Register Notices
- Methods Approved Under the Expedited Process
Expedited Method Approval Requirements
There are several requirements that must be met before a new method can be approved using the expedited process.
- Public water systems must be required by federal regulation to monitor for a contaminant that is an analyte in the new method.
- Drinking water regulations must list at least one approved method for the contaminant (i.e., a method that was approved using the rulemaking process).
- A comparison of the new method to the approved method(s) must show the new method to be equally effective in determining the concentration of the contaminant.
New methods may be submitted for evaluation under the Alternate Test Procedure (ATP) program. A new method can be considered for approval using the expedited process, if it has performance characteristics that fall within the range of performance characteristics obtained by the methods listed in regulation for the same contaminant.
Expedited Method Approval Federal Register Notices
- June 3, 2008 Notice – EPA publishes first list of methods approved under the expedited process | PDF Version (18 pp, 1164K, About PDF)
- April 10, 2007 Notice – Announcement of EPA’s plan to implement the expedited process