General Questions

• Q - What is the effective date of the Quality Assurance rule?
  A - The effective date of the Quality Assurance Rule is December 3, 2008.

• Q - What does the "Effective Date" mean?
  A - The revised QA rule is "official" as of December 3, 2008. All documents cited in the rule also become effective on this date. For example, the revised DEP SOP documents, "Standard Operating Procedures for Field Activities" and "Standard Operating Procedures for Laboratory Activities" are also effective on 12/3/08.
  
  Note: The revision date for the revised DEP SOPs is March 31, 2008. This is not the effective date.

• Q - What is different about the rule?
  A - See the summary of QA rule changes.

• Q - Who is affected by the rule?
  A - The QA rule applies to all entities that participate in the process of generating environmental data. This process includes, but is not limited to: field activities (e.g., sample collection, sample preservation, field measurements, site evaluation); sample handling, including storage or transport of samples (except common carriers); laboratory activities (e.g., sample receipt, sample analysis, data review, data validation); additional data review, summarizing or data presentation activities; and, other service activities that might impact data quality, such as providing sample containers, instrument calibration services, reagents and standards, etc (except commercial vendors).

• Q - Are there exemptions to the new Rule requirements?
  A - Programs, projects, studies or activities pertaining to air quality, meteorology, atmospheric radiation, atmospheric noise, electric and magnetic fields or air pollutant emissions, and having no requirements for monitoring contamination of soil, water, or tissue are excluded from the scope of the QA rule. These excluded activities include those specified in DEP rules under Chapters 62-204, 62-210, 62-212, 62-213, 62-214, 62-252, 62-296 and 62-297 (Air Resources Management), F.A.C.
  
  In addition, operations conducted under a Department permit, consent order, direct contract or other written agreement with DEP, such as a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), Sampling and Analysis Plan, or similar documents specifying sampling, field-testing or laboratory analyses, must conform with the specifications and requirements in those documents as well.

• Q - What changes were made to the DEP SOPs?
  A - See the summary of DEP SOP changes.