Quality Assurance Program - Chesapeake Bay Program

<body> <H4>Chesapeake Bay Quality Assurance Program</H4><UL><LI><A HREF="#geninfo">General Infomation</A></LI><LI><A HREF="#qao">Quality Assurance Organization</A> </LI><LI><A HREF="#planning">Quality Assurance Planning Requirements</A></LI><LI><A HREF="#methods">Methods and Quality Assurance</A></LI><LI><A HREF="#perform">Quality Assurance and Performance Evaluations</A></LI></UL><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><H4>General Information<A NAME="geninfo"></A></H4><P>Restoring the Chesapeake is closely tied to the quantity and quality of information needed to answer questions like "How is the Bay doing?" and "Are our efforts making a difference?" To respond with confidence, the Chesapeake Bay Program maintains a Quality Assurance Program for the monitoring and tracking of pollutants, water quality, land use, algae, fish, crabs, submerged aquatic vegetation, etc. The Chesapeake Bay Quality Assurance Program ensures that information from over 40 agencies and research institutions are not only scientifically valid, but comparable among collaborators, and of known and documented quality. </P><H4>Quality Assurance Organization <A NAME="qao"></A></H4><P>The Quality Assurance Program consists of an internal, EPA component within the Chesapeake Bay Program Office and several collaborative quality circles within the Chesapeake Bay Program Subcommittee structure. Within the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, quality assurance work is done by the Quality Assurance (QA) Officer, the QA Coordinator, and EPA Project Officers. </P><P>Subcommittee quality assurance is done through the <A HREF="../amqawg.htm">Analytical Methods and QA Workgroup</A>, <A HREF="../mmwg.htm" TARGET="_top">Living Resources Modeling and Monitoring Workgroup</A> and the <A HREF="../tcwg.htm" TARGET="_top">Toxics Characterization Workgroup</A>. <A HREF="../pubs/quality_assurance/cbpoqmp5_01.pdf" TARGET="_top">The Chesapeake Bay Program Office Quality Management Plan</A> <IMG SRC="../images/pdf.gif" WIDTH="17" HEIGHT="16" ALT="PDF Files"> (2.4 MB) contains additional information on the Chesapeake Bay Program Office quality system.</P></DIV><UL><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT">Detailed description of the <A HREF="qa_org.cfm">organizational aspects of the Quality Assurance Program</A>.</DIV></LI></UL><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><P><B>Quality Assurance Planning Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements<A NAME="planning"></A></B></P><P>Organizations conducting projects and research for EPA that generate, compile, or use environmental data are required to establish and implement a quality system. Grantees and cooperators describe their quality systems in two formal documents, the Quality Management Plan and the Quality Assurance Project Plan. </P></DIV><UL><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="qa_planning.cfm#preq">Quality Management Plan Requirements</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="qa_planning.cfm#req">Quality Assurance Project Plan Requirements</A> </DIV></LI></UL><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><H4>Methods and Quality Assurance<A NAME="methods"></A></H4><P>Scientists follow proven methods and quality control procedures to collect environmental data. Methods are selected collaboratively through the Analytical Methods and Quality Assurance Workgroup. All field and laboratory procedures are documented in detail and can be accessed through the following sites:</P></DIV><UL><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="qa_tidal.cfm">Tidal Water Quality Methods and QA</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="http://va.water.usgs.gov/chesbay/RIMP/methods.html" TARGET="_top">River Input (Fall Line) Methods and QA</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="http://www.vims.edu/bio/sav/sav00/report/reportindex_page.html" TARGET="_top">Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Methods and QA</A> <BR> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data/data_desc.cfm?DB=CBP_BENDB">Chesapeake Bay Benthic Methods and QA</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data/data_desc.cfm?DB=CBP_PLANKDB">Plankton Methods and QA</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="../pubs/subcommittee/amqawg/doc-CitMonTribQAPP1997.PDF" TARGET="_top">Alliance for Chesapeake Bay Citizen Monitoring</A> <IMG SRC="../images/pdf.gif" WIDTH="17" HEIGHT="16" ALT="PDF Files"> (87 kb)</DIV></LI></UL><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><H4>Quality Assessments and Performance Evaluations<A NAME="perform"></A></H4><P>Data quality is systematically checked at each stage of production using quality control samples. In addition, quality assurance staff conduct on-site audits and monitor laboratory performance on inter-laboratory split samples, reference samples and blind audit samples.</P></DIV><UL><LI><A HREF="qa_performance.cfm">Quality Assessments and Performance Evaluations</A></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="qa_sample.cfm">Chesapeake Bay Split Sample and Blind Audit Programs</A> </DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="../pubs/quality_assurance/WQLabs.pdf" TARGET="_top">Participating Laboratories</A> <IMG SRC="../images/pdf.gif" WIDTH="17" HEIGHT="16" ALT="PDF File"> (136 kb)</DIV></LI><LI><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data/qat.htm" TARGET="_top">Quality Assurance Tool</A> </DIV></LI></UL><DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV><table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#C6C68C" width="100%"> <tr valign="top"> <td><strong>Other Sites of Interest:</strong> <ul> <li><A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/quality1" TARGET="_top">The EPA Quality System</A> - </li><li><A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/quality1/qa_docs.html" TARGET="_top">U.S. EPA QA Plan Guidance</A> - </li><li><A HREF="http://bqs.usgs.gov/srs/FS_031_98.html" TARGET="_top">USGS Reference Sample Program</A> - </li><li><A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/qa/r3qmp.pdf%20" TARGET="_top">USEPA Region III Quality Management Plan</A> -</li><li><A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/region03/esc/library/index.htm" TARGET="_top">EPA Region 3 Library</A> -</li><li><A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/Region3/esc/library/methods.htm" TARGET="_top">EPA Region 3 Methods</A> - </li></ul></td></tr> </table><hr> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><a name="Ecosystem"></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">To bookmark this page, please use this URL: <a href="../qualityassurance.htm" target="_top">http://www.chesapeakebay.net/qualityassurance.htm</a></font></P><P ALIGN="CENTER"><font size="2">For more information, contact the Chesapeake Bay Program Office:<br> 410 Severn Avenue, Suite 109, Annapolis, MD 21403 / Tel: (800) YOUR-BAY / Fax: (410) 267-5777</font><font size="2">.</font></P><P ALIGN="CENTER"><font size="2"><a href="../termsofuse.htm" target="_top">Terms of Use</a> | <a href="../privacypolicy.htm" target="_top">Privacy Policy</a> | <a href="../comments.htm" target="_top">Contact Us<br> </a></font><font size="2"><a href="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/directions.htm" target="_top"> Directions to the Bay Program Office</a></font><br> <a href="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/cims" target="_top"><img src="../images/cims1.gif" height="19" width="51" border="0" align="left" vspace="10" alt="Chesapeake Information Management System (CIMS) "></a><a href="javascript:print()"><img src="../images/print.gif" width="31" height="38" border="0" alt="Print Current Page" align="right"></a><br> <font size="2">Last modified: 02/12/02</font></P></td><td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#E7E7D6">   </td></tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#E7E7D6"><img src="../images/endc3.gif" alt="endc3.gif (827 bytes)" WIDTH="8" HEIGHT="14"></td><td align="right" valign="top" bgcolor="#E7E7D6" colspan="2"><img src="../images/endd3.gif" alt="endd3.gif (827 bytes)" WIDTH="8" HEIGHT="14"></td></tr> </table></div> </body>