Environmental Data Quality Workgroup
With representatives from Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense Logistics Agency, this workgroup’s primary mission is to develop and recommend strategies pertaining to environmental sampling, laboratory testing operations, and data quality.
The EDQW also responds to legislative and regulatory initiatives and other requests for Component information, and coordinates information exchange among DoD Components.
Primary goals are to:
- Promote the generation of environmental data of known and documented quality
- Develop and recommend strategies for DoD environmental sampling and testing operations
- Facilitate a coordinated response to legislative and regulatory issues
- Coordinate the exchange of technology and best management practices within DoD
- Improve overall performance of DoDโs environmental programs.
The DoD Environmental Data Quality Workgroup (EDQW), chaired by the Navy, continues to work effectively with the DoD Components to improve the quality of activities and programs involving the collection, management, and responsibilities of the EDQW as required by DODI 4715.15, Environmental Data Quality, effective July 8, 2019.
Laboratory Accreditation
Using third-party Accreditation Bodies (ABs), the DoD ELAP provides a unified DoD program through which laboratories can demonstrate competency and document conformance to the DoD Quality Systems Manual for Environmental Laboratories (DoD QSM).
Discover which laboratories are accredited under the DoD Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (DoD ELAP) here.
Quality Systems Manuals
The Department of Defense/ Department of Energy Consolidated Quality Systems Manual for Environmental Laboratories (QSM) was updated to version 6.0. Although QSM 6.0 is a significant rewrite of QSM requirements, data quality and defensibility under earlier QSM versions will be comparable. Many of the QSM 6.0 changes are a result of a reorganization of the document to incorporate the latest version of the underlying ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The bulk of the remaining edits removed language that was redundant or not assessable. There are some updated technical requirements, including how sensitivity limits are determined, maintained, and reported, and some specific method requirements have been edited, but the EDQW has determined these changes do not affect overall data quality. The QSM presents minimum requirements laboratories must meet to become accredited. Projects must determine appropriate technical requirements for decision making during project planning and document those requirements in the Quality Assurance Project Plan.
See the Quality Systems Manuals subpage for supporting documentation and previous versions of the Quality Systems Manual.
Data Validation Guidelines
The EDQW maintains general and analytical technique-specific guidelines on the validation and reporting of environmental data generated in support of DoD projects in support of the Quality System Manual.
See the Data Validation Guidelines subpage for more information.
DAGCAP
DoD developed advanced geophysical classification to improve the efficiency of cleaning up munitions and to focus its resources on addressing the potential explosives safety risks at munitions response sites (MRSs). To ensure quality data, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health (ODASD(ESOH)) created the DoD Advanced Geophysical Classification Accreditation Program (DAGCAP) to accredit organizations that use advanced geophysical classification at MRSs.
More detail on DAGCAP is available here.
Outreach
The EDQW periodically hosts an in-person workshop, the Environmental Monitoring and Data Quality (EM/DQ) Workshop, as well as webinars and training sessions available to the public.
Information regarding previous workshops/webinars, memoranda, and miscellaneous EDQW-endorsed documentation can be found here.
Contact EDQW
Have a question or comment for the EDQW? Use this form to submit your inquiry.