AC24 TNI-2 Implementation Lessons Learned

CWEA Members: $20.00
Non-Members $30.00
CWEA Contact Hours: 1.0 contact hours towards CWEA Certifications: LAB, AWTO

In 1988, the California Environmental Laboratory Improvement Act (ELIA) became law and established Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) to evaluate and provide accreditation to environmental testing laboratories in California. Approximately 6 years later, the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Act, and California Code of Regulations provided the authority and structure of a laboratory accreditation program to standardize and accredit laboratories that analyze environmental regulatory samples relating to human health and environmental decisions in California. However, over time, the accreditation program became outdated, and competence of the environmental laboratories throughout California was in question. So, in May 2020, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted the TNI-2 Standard regulations amending the requirements and standards for accreditation of environmental testing laboratories in California. Prior to this adoption, laboratories were only required to meet the requirements in the analytical methods they perform, but the new standard now required facilities to control a broader scope of influential factors. This standard adoption set off a firestorm throughout the 600+ ELAP certified laboratories who now had to decide if, and how they would implement this new requirement for their agency.

Understanding that this change was coming in 2017, the Central Marin Sanitation Agency’s (CMSA) discussed its options associated with continued certification within the California ELAP. This same discussion of certification options has occurred throughout the state which has resulted in some labs implementing the new standard and some labs relinquishing certification. CMSA ultimately decided to continue its certification within the ELAP program, so CMSA Laboratory (CMSAL) began its journey into the TNI-2 standard implementation.

This journey of the TNI-2 standard implementation has required overhaul and implementation of a new Quality Assurance Program, Standard Operating Procedures, Standards, data management systems, laboratory bench sheets, general laboratory operations and a myriad of documentation. This presentation will provide an overview of the process of implementation, examples of different types of documentation, operational changes and the lessons learned associated with the successful implementation of the TNI-2 Standard in February 2023.

Learning Objectives:
Understand the magnitude of changes that have occurred within ELAP certified laboratories.
See examples and discuss the changes to laboratory documentation and operational changes.
Understand the changes to data quality, documentation and what is next for the laboratory community

Registrants who view the live webinar to see the slides and hear the audio and then enter the correct attention check code (directions below)1.0  contact hours towards CWEA's Contact Hours. LAB, AWTO

To receive your contact hours for viewing the live webinar, please note the one (1) attention check code that will be displayed during the webinar in the top left or right corner of the presentation for approximately 90 seconds.  Please enter this code in the Attention Check Code component under the "Contents" tab.  

Please note, all user activity of CWEA certification holders on the Online Wastewater Education Network is subject to the CWEA Code of Ethics standards for professional conduct and ethics. Certification holders should receive credit for a training only once within the same contact hour period. Any attempt to undermine the certification process may be subject to ethics procedures and possible sanctions. It is not possible to receive contact hours for both attending the live webinar and viewing the recording.  

Once you have entered the correct attendance check code, you will be able to create and download an electronic "Certificate of Completion" under the "Contents" tab.