ADEQ depends on quality environmental data to make sound decisions that protect Arizona's public health and its air, land and water resources. Our personnel follow rigorous quality assurance/quality control policies and procedures to ensure the integrity of the scientific data on which decisions are based.

Contacts

ADEQ Quality Management Plan
The agency's Quality Management Plan describes the processes that ADEQ uses to maintain a Quality Management System consistent with the U.S. EPA requirements as specified in "Requirements for Quality Management Plans," (EPA QA/R-2, August 1996) .

Site-specific QA Project Plans
All environmental data collection activities conducted by ADEQ, or analytical results submitted to ADEQ for compliance or enforcement activities, must be addressed in a Quality Assurance Project Plan. These plans must be developed as specified in "EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Environmental Data Operations" (EPA QA/R-5) .

• Checklist
• Alternative to Data Validation
• Arizona Data Qualifiers
• Data Quality Indicator Measurement Performance Criteria Example Tables
• Project and Task Organization
• Guidance for QA Project Plans

Data Verification and Validation
Data verification and data validation are processes used to ensure, through examination and objective evidence, that data are of sufficient quality to support decisions based on data quality objectives as defined in the appropriate project or site-specific Quality Assurance Project Plan or Sampling and Analysis Plan.

Data verification is used to evaluate data for completeness, correctness, and conformance according to method, procedural, or contractual requirements. See the Data Verification Checklist for documentation requirements.

Data validation is an analyte- and sample-specific process that extends the evaluation of data beyond method to confirm that particular requirements for a specific intended use are fulfilled.

• Data Validation Catalog Example Table
• Data Validation Checklist
• Data Verification Checklist
• Laboratory Documentation Requirements for Data Validation

Sampling Procedures
This section contains the standard operating procedures for the collection of water, soils, sediments and sludges.

Drinking Water and Groundwater

• Inorganics
• Volatiles
• Semivolatiles

Policies
This section contains ADEQ policies regarding analytical method requirements when quality control falls out of acceptance criteria.

• Quality Management Plan
• Analytical Methods Having Provisions for a One-Point Calibration and Continuing Calibration Verification Constraints Policy
• Addressing Spike and Surrogate Recovery As They Relate to Matrix Effects in Water, Air, Sludge and Soil Matrices Policy

Analytical Methods Update
This section contain ADEQ policies regarding program specific requirements for various analytical methods.

• Method 5035
  • Implementation of Method 5035
  • Final Policy: Implementation of EPA Method 5035 - Soil Preparation for EPA Methods 8015B, 8021B and 8260B