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Complete Article from Edition 45 APG eNewsletter
Article written by Jerry Parr, Editor of Calibrate
Most of the NELAC meeting was focused on the NELAC self-sufficiency effort initiated by NELAC in 2005. On Monday morning, Aurora Shields, the NELAC Board Chair, and Judy Duncan, the NELAC Chair-Elect, presented the findings and recommendations of the NELAC self-sufficiency task group and the Partnership Planning Team (PPT) formed as a result of a memorandum of understanding between NELAC and INELA. This presentation covered the mission, values, organization, governance and structure of a transformed organization that builds on the attributes of both NELAC and INELA. The presentations and related information from this session are expected to be published in the near future.
The NELAC meeting then had breakout sessions to obtain feedback from the attendees on the proposed direction. The attendees were quite receptive to the changes proposed, but the item that had the most discussion surrounded the name of the new organization. Ms. Duncan explained that “NELAC” will most likely not be used because of a number of issues related to EPA management of a non-authorized program. This announcement resulted in many discussions, and by the end of the week, two announcements were made. The first was that the phase-out of the NELAC name could occur in a two-year plan to allow state agencies, laboratories, PT providers, and others time to adjust to this change. The second announcement was that the Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board (ELAB) will host a special teleconference in early October to collect input from laboratories and others on this proposed change.
At the end of the NELAC meeting, a “vote” was held by the government officials in attendance. The vote overwhelmingly confirmed that the NELAC Board of Directors should continue to work with INELA on pursuing options for working together.
Other significant events occurred at this NELAC meeting. Ms. Lara Autry, the NELAC/NELAP Executive Director stepped down from this position. The NELAC Board has established an interim timeline to cover Ms. Autry’s activities until a new organization is operational. Ms. Autry also announced that the NELAC website, www.epa.gov/nelac would be operational until the end of January.
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