Current Rule Making

Our current fee structure does not cover the full cost of Ecology’s Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, and consequently the services we provide to labs are subsidized by the state general fund. In the current budget, the legislature directed Ecology to raise fees to cover the cost of the program. We have eliminated one of seven positions in the program, but still need to raise fees by about 45% to fully fund the remaining program. Our fee structure revision will also align fees with the level of services required to accredit different types of labs. With the loss of one of our positions, we will also need to change some business practices specified in the rules; this will reduce our oversight of accredited labs.

We are also clarifying the grounds for revoking or suspending accreditation so that our rules expressly state that suspension or revocation can occur for failure to pay mandatory fees and for failure to maintain third party or reciprocal accreditation.

Filing date

Type of activity

09/16/09

• Rule-making pre-proposal - CR-101 form
• Focus sheet