ESBD_571978_1793113873912_582-27-19890 Attachment A.pdf

Laboratory Accreditation System Maintenance and Support

SCOPE OF WORK

BACKGROUND

TCEQ's Monitoring Division, Laboratory & Quality Assurance Section has implemented an environmental laboratory accreditation program. TCEQ accredits environmental laboratories for specific fields of accreditation. A laboratory may choose the field(s) for which it seeks accreditation from the fields of accreditation offered by TCEQ. The agency's fields of accreditation include five matrices: Drinking water; non-potable water; biological tissue; solid and chemical materials; and air.

TCEQ's fields of accreditation also include most of the analytical technologies and fields of accreditation associated with the agency's regulatory programs (Please see www.tceq.texas.gov/field/qa/env_lab_accreditation.html).

TCEQ currently accredits approximately 245 environmental laboratories. The laboratories and their scopes of accreditation may be found at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/downloads/compliance/labs/tx-nelap-lab-list.docx/.

Accreditation requirements are contained in:

• Texas Water Code Chapter 5, Subchapter R (Section 5.801 et seq);

• 30 TAC Chapter 25, Subchapters A and B; and

• The NELAC Institute (TNI) standards

1. Basic System Description

The Contractor shall maintain TCEQ’s current system, AB Manager database, for the following:

A. Maintaining and, if necessary, revising information concerning TCEQ’s accreditation program.

At a minimum, the system shall include:

• fields of accreditation offered by TCEQ, including NELAP matrix, technology, method, parameter, and proficiency testing codes, Texas-specific fields of accreditation, and TCEQ fee category;

• invoicing (new and renewals);

• method equivalencies;

Laboratory Accreditation System Maintenance and Support - Scope of Work

• certificate and scope of accreditation forms issued by TCEQ;

• type of application (new, renewal, amendment);

• type of accreditation (primary, secondary, primary and secondary);

• types of laboratories; and

• Texas counties

The system shall not take more than three seconds to load a page and be ready for user interaction for most screens. Pages that require complex operations shall display in less than five seconds. In cases where extreme processing is required, screens may take much longer to display.

At a minimum, the Contractor shall maintain the system to enable TCEQ and others to determine routinely (24 hours a day/seven days a week), without difficulty, on a full-and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others current and historical information concerning the accreditation program.

The system shall also be maintained to enable TCEQ without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others to add, delete, or change information concerning the accreditation program.

The Contractor shall maintain the database to ensure temporal data regarding accreditation information is readily available to enable TCEQ and others to determine, for example, when TCEQ added, deleted, or changed field(s) of accreditation.

The system shall also be maintained to enable TCEQ without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others to upload information concerning the accreditation program to The NELAC Institute’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Management System (TNI LAMS) database.

At a minimum, the information shall include:

• Laboratory name, ID numbers (TNI lab code, EPA lab code, State ID code), address (mailing and physical, including multiple sites and one or more mobile laboratories), and contact information (telephone and fax numbers, contact person);

• Fields of accreditation, including matrix, method, analyte, effective date, and status

B. Maintaining and, if necessary, revising information concerning laboratories applying to TCEQ for accreditation and laboratories accredited by TCEQ.

At a minimum, the system shall include:

• Laboratory name, address (mailing and physical, including multiple sites and one or more mobile laboratories), and contact information (telephone and fax numbers, email address(es), websites, technical director(s), quality assurance officer(s), owner, contact person);

• Laboratory type (commercial, Federal, hospital or health care, state agency, academic institution, public water system, public wastewater system, industrial (private) wastewater system, river authority, other);

• Type of accreditation (primary, secondary, primary and secondary);

• Texas accreditation number (1 alphanumeric character, followed by 9 numeric digits, followed by a dash, followed by 2 numeric digits, followed by a dash, followed by sequential numeric digits, as applicable);

• EPA laboratory number;

• Fields of accreditation, including matrix, parameters, method, analyte, effective date, status, certificates, and scopes of accreditation;

• Accreditation period;

• Proficiency testing results (primary accreditation only);

• Annual invoicing fee;

• Hours of operation; and

• County (Texas laboratories only)

At a minimum, the Contractor shall maintain the system to enable TCEQ and others to determine routinely (24 hours a day/seven days a week), without difficulty, on a full-and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others current and historical information concerning each laboratory accredited by TCEQ.

The system shall also be maintained to enable TCEQ without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others to add, delete, or change information concerning each laboratory accredited by TCEQ.

The Contractor shall maintain the database to ensure temporal data regarding the laboratory information is readily available to enable TCEQ and others to determine unequivocally, for example, whether a laboratory is accredited for a specific field(s) of accreditation currently or on a prior certain date as well as the date(s) associated with additions, deletions, and changes to laboratory fields of accreditation.

The system shall not take more than three seconds to load a page and be ready for user interaction for most screens. Pages that require complex operations shall display in less than five seconds. In cases where extreme processing is required, screens may take much longer to display.

By mutual consent and within one month of receiving instructions from TCEQ, the Contractor shall incorporate other capabilities into its system. Unless mutually agreed upon by TCEQ and the Contractor, other capabilities shall be incorporated into the Contractor’s system at no additional cost to TCEQ.

C. Incorporating proficiency testing results from proficiency testing sample providers and exporting TNI LAMS.

At a minimum, the Contractor shall maintain the system to enable TCEQ to incorporate proficiency testing results provided electronically by proficiency testing sample providers into the system routinely (24 hours a day/seven days a week), without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resort to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others.

The Contractor shall maintain the database to ensure temporal data is readily available to enable TCEQ and others to determine, for example, the date associated with a proficiency testing sample as well as when proficiency testing sample results are added, deleted, or changed.

The Contractor shall maintain the database to ensure temporal data is readily available to enable TCEQ and others to upload information concerning the accreditation program to TNI LAMS database.

By mutual consent and within one month of receiving instructions from TCEQ, the Contractor shall incorporate other capabilities into its system. Unless mutually agreed

D. Determining whether laboratory(ies) successfully complete proficiency testing studies according to accreditation standards.

At a minimum the system shall be maintained to allow TCEQ to:

• Display in an Excel or other mutually agreed upon format proficiency testing results of one or more laboratories for the preceding 18 months or for a variable period determined by TCEQ; and

• Screen and display in an Excel, Word, or other mutually agreed upon format the current or prior proficiency testing status of one or more laboratories for the field(s) of accreditation.

The system shall be maintained to include all proficiency testing screening requirements contained in 2009, 2016, 0r 2017, as applicable, standards adopted by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program. The Contractor shall update the system to incorporate new TNI standards when they are adopted and implemented by the NELAP board. Implementation is anticipated to occur in 2017 or 2018.

At a minimum, the Contractor shall maintain the system to enable TCEQ to determine proficiency testing status routinely (24 hours a day/seven days a week), without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resort to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others.

The system shall not take more than three seconds to load a page and be ready for user interaction for most screens. Pages that require complex operations shall display in less than five seconds. In cases where extreme processing is required, screens may take much longer to display.

By mutual consent and within one month of receiving instructions from TCEQ, the Contractor shall incorporate other capabilities into its system. Unless mutually agreed

E. Making small-scale internal queries concerning laboratories applying to TCEQ for accreditation and laboratories accredited by TCEQ.

The system shall allow TCEQ and, via TCEQ's website, the public to execute simple searches of and retrieve in Word, Excel, or other mutually agreed upon format information concerning accredited laboratories by:

• laboratory(ies);

• field(s) of accreditation, including history;

• accreditation status, including accredited/applicant, primary/secondary/primary, and secondary;

• location(s), including city(ies); and/or

• county(ies) (Texas laboratories only).

At a minimum, the information shall enable TCEQ and the public to execute searches routinely (24 hours a day/seven days a week), without difficulty, on a full- and real-time basis, and without resorting to special effort on the part of TCEQ, the Contractor, or others.

If the Contractor makes the information available electronically, the system shall not take more than three seconds to load a page and be ready for user interaction for the majority of screens. Pages that require complex operations shall display in less than five seconds. In cases where extreme processing is required, screens may take much longer to display.

By mutual consent and within one month of receiving instructions from TCEQ, the Contractor shall incorporate other capabilities into its system. Unless mutually agreed upon by TCEQ and the Contractor, other capabilities shall be incorporated into the Contractor’s system at no additional cost to TCEQ.

F. Operating Environment

The system must operate within and ensure complete compatibility with the TCEQ environment, described below.

Workstation: Internet connection is required. Web browser is required to be the most recent version of Chrome, Edge, Safari, or other modern browser. Memory: 2 GB minimum, 4 GB recommended. Screen resolution: 1280 x 1024 or larger.

Application window size: 1024 x 680 or larger. There are exceptions to these standards as equipment is replaced.

Laboratory Accreditation System Maintenance and Support