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CHAPTER ONE QUALITY CONTROL 1.0 INTRODUCTION It is the goal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) quality assurance (QA) program to ensure that all data be scientifically valid, defensible, and of known precision and accuracy. The data should be of sufficient known quality to withstand scientific and legal challenge relative to the use for which the data are obtained. The QA program is management's tool for achieving this goal . For RCRA analyses, the recommended minimum requirements for a QA program and the associated quality control (QC) procedures are provided in this chapter. The data acquired from QC procedures are used to estimate the quality of analytical data, to determine the need for corrective action in response to identified deficiencies, and to interpret results after corrective action procedures are implemented. Method-specific QC procedures are incorporated in the individual methods since they are not applied universally. A total program to generate data of acceptable quality should include both a QA component, which encompasses the management procedures and controls, as well as an operational day-to-day QC component. This chapter defines fundamental elements of such a data collection program. Data collection efforts involve: 1. design of a project plan to achieve the data quality objectives (DQOs) ; 2. implementation of the project plan; and 3. assessment of the data to determine if the DQOs are meta The project plan may be a sampling and analysis plan or a waste analysis plan if it covers the QA/QC goals of the Chapter, or it may be a Quality Assurance Project Plan as described later in this chapter. This chapter identifies the minimal QC components that should -be used in the performance of sampling and analyses, including the QC information which should be documented. Guidance is provided to construct QA programs for field and laboratory work conducted in support of the RCRA program. 2.0 QA PROJECT PLAN It is recommended that all projects which generate environment-related data in support of RCRA have a QA Project Plan (QAPjP) or equivalent. In some instances, a sampling and analysis plan or a waste analysis plan may be equivalent if it covers all of the QA/QC goals outlined in this chapter. In addition, a separate QAPjP need not be prepared for routine analyses or activities where the procedures to be followed are described in a Standard 4 ONE - 1 Revision 1 July 1992