Technical Support

The Emission Measurement Center's (EMC's) Quality Assurance (QA) Team has been very active over the past few years trying to increase QA activities within the stationary source program. In September of 1996, the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) received approval of the Quality Management Plan (QMP) which describes how QA would operate within OAQPS. One responsibility of the EMC QA Team is to make sure all stationary source work has proper QA associated with it. With the divestment of QA support from the Office of Research and Development (ORD), the EMC QA Team has acquired some additional responsibilities including: the Stationary Source Compliance Audit Program (SSCAP), Volume III of the QA Handbooks, and Method Development and Field Validation work.

In order to coordinate QA activities and pass on important information about QA to the regional, state, and the local agencies, the EMC QA Team holds a monthly conference call the first Tuesday of each month to discuss these issues. If you would like more information about this conference call or further QA information, please contact any member of the EMC QA Team. If you are interested in any of the QA Requirement Documents or Guidance Documents provided by the Quality Assurance Division (QAD) in ORD, you can find them at the following URL: www.epa.gov//quality1/qa_docs.html

EMC QA TEAM MEMBERS

1. Terry Harrison (919) 541-5233 or by E-Mail harrison.terry@epa.gov
2. Gary McAlister (919) 541-1062 or by E-Mail mcalister.gary@epa.gov
3. Wade Peele (919) 541-4945 or by E-Mail peele.wade@epa.gov
4. Candace Sorrell (919) 541-1064 or by E-Mail sorrell.candace@epa.gov

Quality Assurance Project Plans

Since 1997, the Agency has required that a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) be written for any activity that involves an environmental data operation (EDO), as documented in EPA QA/R-5: "EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Environmental Data Operations". An additional source of information provided by the Quality Assurance Division (QAD) to assist with writing a QAPP is document EPA QA/G-5: "EPA Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans". Both of these documents can be found on the web at the following URL es.epa.gov/ncerqa/qa/qa_docs.html .

Over the past few years, individuals that work with the Agency have become very proficient when writing QAPPs. There are still many groups, though, that have not had to produce such documentation. The following file qa-plan.pdf is an example of the type of content expected (i.e., level of detail) in an acceptable QAPP. Many different formats and styles have been followed that are equally acceptable. This file is being made available only as an example of the type/level of information expected.

EPA 2003 Blind Audit of Protocol Calibration Gases for CEMS

In the 1980s and 1990s EPA conducted a series of performance audits of EPA Protocol gases sold by specialty gas producers. The program was discontinued in 1998. Because there had not been an audit in 7 years and EPA was concerned that gas quality may have declined, EPA performed an audit in 2003. EPA audited 42 source-level, tri-blend, EPA Protocol calibration gas cylinders from a total of 14 major gas vendors nationwide. The cylinders contain blends of SO2, NO, and CO2 in a N2 balance. The gas concentrations are (1) 50 ppm SO2, 50 ppm NO, and 5% CO2; (2) 500 ppm SO2, 400 ppm NO, and 12% CO2; and (3) 1000 ppm SO2, 900 ppm NO, and 18% CO2. The cylinders were purchased by a third party so that the gas vendors did not know that EPA was analyzing the cylinders. The purpose of the audit was to help vendors improve gas quality, and to help calibration gas buyers identify good gas vendors. The overall failure rate was 11% on a gas component basis, and 57% on a vendor basis. The 2003 audit has provided useful information to help establish an ongoing EPA Protocol gas audit program.

To arrive at final results, EPA overcame several problems. We initially used an API hemiluminescence monitor to measure the NO component in each cylinder. Interference with the NO readings caused by the CO2 component (quenching effect), however, forced us to discard these results. We then obtained a UV NO analyzer to repeat the analyses. However, for the high level NO cylinders, we relied on our FTIR results instead of UV because the AMETEK UV NOx analyzer was set up for 0-500 ppm instead of 0-1000 ppm. For high level CO2 cylinders, we relied on the NDIR results because there was not enough high level CO2 SRM or NTRM to use as a reference spectra for the FTIR. We found that SO2 in the cylinders was interfering with the NO readings from the AMETEK UV analyzer. A correction was developed by injecting the analyzer with SO2 in N2 and observing the effect on NO readings.

Summary tables of EPA's results are available at: www.epa.gov/airmarkets/monitoring then scroll to "EPA 2003 Blind Audit of Protocol Calibration Gases for CEMS".

Audit Program

On January 1, 1998, the Emission Measurement Center (EMC) took over responsibility of the Stationary Source Compliance Audit Program (SSCAP), after a long history of the program being run out of the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) in the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The Dioxin Program, which was being run out of another group within NERL, was also transferred to the EMC, so that all audit samples could be provided from one central location. The SSCAP has been redesigned to increase the use of audit samples during compliance tests. These changes have been made at the request of the Regional Offices, State Agencies, and Local Agencies whom we have conference calls with on a monthly basis. The agendas and minutes to all of these conference calls can be obtained by contacting any of the EMC Quality Assurance Team members listed above. A new agenda will be drafted at least one week in advance of each conference call, which occurs the first Tuesday in every month from 1:30-3:30 P.M. (EST)

The EMC (QA) Team has recently started using an electronic Stationary Source Audit Program (SSAP) database. Federal, State, and Local Agency personnel should now use this database to electronically order audit samples. This allows us to operate the SSAP in a more efficient and effective manner. Another benefit of the dabase is that it compiles the results of the audits in several report formats to help the QA Team and Agency staff to see the results of a particular audit, how a particular testing company or analytical company is doing historically with their audits, and more. To assure that the audit results are reported electronically to the database, we are no longer providing target acceptable ranges with any of the audit samples. The person who requested the audit sample must go into the database to report the results and receive a pass/fail notice. For security, access to the database is limited to registered Federal, State, or Local Agency users. All registration requests should be submitted to Candace Sorrell at sorrell.candace@epa.gov . The request needs to provide your name, non-P.O. Box address, Agency affiliation, phone number and e-mail address. You will get further instructions via return E-mail.

Additional information pertaining to the methods can be found in the frequently asked questions section Facts Section of this web site. This section contains the Test Methods Numbering System, Guideline Documents, Information Documents, and other frequently asked questions.

In addition to these resources you may search the EMC web site for keywords contained in the documents included on our home page.

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