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Guidance & Frequent Questions: Quality Assurance
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EPA requires specific quality assurance activities be performed to ensure that the data collected are sufficient and adequate for their intended use, such as to test an hypothesis. EPA requirements are broadly defined in the Federal procurement and financial assistance regulations. The documents and links below provide detailed guidance in meeting those quality requirements.
Guidance for Satisfying EPA Quality Assurance System Requirements for STAR Grants EPA QA/G-1STAR (PDF) (20 pp, 116 KB)
This document assists applicants and grantees in meeting EPA quality requirements for the STAR Program. It provides information for documenting quality assurance in the proposal, and contains additional guidance for recipients when more detailed information is later required.
EPA Quality System
The EPA has developed a Quality System to manage the quality aspects of its environmental data collection, generation, and use.
NCER's Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) (PDF) (5 pp, 48 K)
The QAPP provides a detailed description of the QA and QC activities for a specific project and assures that the results obtained are of the type and quality needed. After an award decision is made, a QA Project Plan may be requested as part of the terms and conditions of an award to supplement the QA Statement. Refer to the terms and conditions of your agreement to determine whether the QAPP should be prepared in accordance with either "NCER's Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs)" (PDF) (5 pp, 48 K), guidance that will be provided by the EPA Project Officer, or in accordance with the full EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA QA/R-5 (PDF) (40 pp, 121 K) and EPA's Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA QA/G-5) (PDF) (111 pp, 401K).
NCER's Quality Management Plan (QMP) Requirements for Centers and Large Organizations (PDF) (2 pp, 25 K)
The QMP is developed to document an organization's policy on implementing and assessing the effectiveness of its quality assurance and quality control operations applied to environmental programs. If more detailed guidance on developing a QMP is required, see the EPA Requirements for Quality Management Plans (EPA QA/R-2) (PDF) (30 pp, 87 K).