Quality assurance

We rely on quality assurance to monitor, improve, and assess our scientific practices. The goal of our quality assurance (QA) program is to ensure that the agency’s environmental decisions are supported by data of known and documented quality. The program is based on policies, requirements, and guidance for collecting new environmental data, using existing environmental data, and modeling environmental conditions.

Our quality assurance program applies to activities performed by agency staff as well as activities performed by others for the agency. The program is based on requirements established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and incorporates guidance and methodology from many standards-setting organizations worldwide.

We use established QA principles to plan, execute, and assess all of our data-generation projects. 


Quality planning guidance

Quality assurance for grantees discusses Quality Assurance Project Plan requirements and includes templates, a review checklist, and model plans.