Specifications for EPA Organizations
The EPA Quality Program encompasses management and technical activities related to the planning, implementation, assessment and improvement of environmental programs that involve:
- the collection, production, evaluation, or use of environmental information
- the design, construction and operation of environmental technology
On this page:
- General Specifications
- EPA's Information Quality Guidelines
- Organizational Implementation
- The Graded Approach
- Policies
- Agency-wide Oversight
- Example activities
General Specifications
There are 11 quality management specifications defined in the Environmental Information Quality Policy for all EPA organizations covered by the EPA Quality Program. It is EPA policy that EPA organizations conform to the minimum specifications of ASQ/ANSI E4 (current version of this American National Standard) and:
- Identify a QA Manager and ensure that this individual can function independently from environmental information collection and use and has access to the top management with the organization. (See Quality Assurance Managers for a list of EPA QA Managers.)
- Develop a Quality Management Plan and implement this plan following Agency approval - see Quality Management Tools for projects for examples, training, guidance, and other resources.
- Provide sufficient resources to implement the quality program.
- Assess the effectiveness of the quality program at least annually and implement corrective actions based on assessment results in a timely manner.
- Implement Agency-wide Quality Program specifications in all applicable EPA-funded extramural agreements. See Chapter 46 of the EPA Acquisition Guide. Also, see Specifications for Non-EPA Organizations.
- Provide appropriate training for all levels of management and staff to assure that quality-related responsibilities and requirements are understood.
- Use a systematic planning approach to develop acceptance or performance criteria for all work covered by the EPA Quality Program- see Quality Management Tools - Systematic Planning for examples, training, guidance, and other resources.
- Have approved QA Project Plans, or equivalent documents, for all applicable projects and tasks involving environmental information - see Quality Management Tools - QA Project Plans for examples, training, guidance, and other resources.
- Assess existing data, when used to support Agency decisions or other secondary purposes, to verify that they are of sufficient quantity and adequate quality for their intended use.
The Environmental Information Quality Policy also contains program-specific specifications and responsibilities for EPA managers and staff.
Relationship to EPA's Information Quality Guidelines
EPA's quality program policy includes procedures for developing and implementing program-specific quality-related activities. These activities then serve as a framework for information product developers to ensure that information products meet the specifications of the Information Quality Guidelines (IQGs). For more information, see EPA's Information Quality Guidelines.
Organizational Implementation
Because of the diversity and dispersion of programs within EPA, the EPA Quality Program is decentralized. EPA organizations have individual quality programs that specifically address their needs. As a result, the EPA Quality Program is composed of individual quality programs developed and implemented by the various EPA Regions, National Program Offices, and the National Research Centers and Laboratories in the Office of Research and Development.
Overall, there are more than 30 EPA organizations that maintain quality programs. These organizations are usually at the Regional Office level, at the level immediately below each National Program Office, and at the National Research Center and Laboratory level. Specialized, complex, large, or highly-visible programs may also may have their own quality programs. Typically, such programs cut across organizational lines and have their own organizational infrastructure.
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) for Information Technology and Information Management (IT/IM) in the Office of Mission Support (OMS) is responsible for developing and coordinating the EPA Quality Program in addition to directing its implementation within EPA. This role is performed by the Enterprise Quality Management Division. See our Quality Program Directives for more information on the Enterprise Quality Management Division (EQMD).
The Graded Approach
Because of the diversity of work conducted through procurements and assistance agreements, EPA recognizes that a "one size fits all" approach to quality specifications will not work. Therefore, the implementation of the EPA Quality Program is based on a graded approach. A graded approach means that quality programs for different organizations and programs will vary according to the specific objectives and needs of the organization. For example, the quality practices needed in a research program are different from those in a regulatory compliance program because the purpose or intended use of the data is different.
The graded approach applies to the development of a quality program and the resulting documentation. Example applications of a graded approach to documentation include:
- Documentation of the Organization's Quality Program (Quality Management Plan): The documentation should describe a Quality Program that is designed to support the objectives of the organization. The level of effort expended to develop and document a Quality Program should be based on the scope of the program. For example, large grants to a State government may require a comprehensive quality program and documentation, whereas smaller grants for programs with relatively less significant impacts may require less substantial documentation.
- Documentation of the application of quality assurance and quality control activities to an activity-specific effort (Quality Assurance Project Plan): The level of detail of the Quality Assurance Project Plan should be based on a graded approach so that the level of detail varies according to the nature of the work being performed and the intended use of the data. As a result, an acceptable plan for some environmental information operations may require a qualitative discussion of the experimental process and its objectives while others may require extensive documentation to adequately describe a complex environmental program.
Policies for EPA Organizations
Policies for EPA Organizations are defined in the internal Agency policies listed below.
- Environmental Information Quality Policy. Quality specifications for EPA organizations that produce or use environmental information.
- EPA Acquisition Guide - Chapter 7, Chapter 15 and Chapter 46 contain quality-related specifications for solicitations and contracts.
Agency-wide Oversight
Oversight of the implementation of the EPA Quality Program is performed by:
- Agency Senior Management Official for Quality: The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) for Information Technology and Information Management (IT/IM) in the Office of Mission Support (OMS) is the Agency's Senior Management Official for Quality and is responsible for developing and coordinating the EPA Quality Program and directing its implementation within EPA.
- CIO Strategic Advisory Council: An advisory group of Agency senior managers that assists the DAA for Environmental Information.
- OMS, Office of Records, Administrative Systems and eDiscovery (ORASE), Enterprise Quality Management Division (EQMD): EQMD supports the CIO and DAA for Environmental Information in the role of Senior Management Official for Quality. EQMD is responsible for development of the Agency's Quality Program, to include developing Agency-wide Quality Program Directives and coordinating with EPA's Regions, National Program Offices and the Office of Research and Development.