GLIN==> Quality Management Trainings conducted on December 7, 2010

The U.S. EPA Office of Water (OW), Great Lakes National Program Office
(GLNPO), and Region 5 are providing a series of training modules on
quality management to foster awareness of EPA’s quality system and train
EPA staff and collaborators on quality implementation for EPA-funded
projects.  The training is scheduled to coincide with the First Annual
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Quality Technical Conference
being held in Chicago, Illinois on December 7, 8, and 9, 2010.  The
training sessions will be conducted on the first day of the conference
and will include one 3-hour and two 2-hour training sessions:
•	Data Verification, Validation, and Usability
•	Quality Program Tracking, Inventory, and Reporting
•	Field and Laboratory Auditing

Training Date: December 7, 2010

Training Location: The Lake Michigan Room at the Harry Metcalfe Federal
Building, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois or via webinar

Target Audience:  The sessions will serve to train EPA staff within OW,
GLNPO, and Region 5 and their partners in EPA Regions, states, and other
federal agencies, as well as EPA contractors, grantees, and
non-governmental organizations. The training modules will assist
individuals with direct quality management responsibilities and also
individuals responsible for conducting projects and ensuring quality is
incorporated into those projects. A certificate of completion will be
awarded to attendees who complete each training session, resulting in a
total of three certificates for attendance to the full suite of
training.

Training Session Registration:  Participants attending via webinar
should register in advance by visiting the specific URL included within
the pertinent training session description below.  Participants
attending onsite do not need to register in advance of the training;
however, they should send an email to Amberina Khan of Region 5 at
khan.amberina at epa.gov indicating the name of the course that they plan
to attend.


Training Session Descriptions

Data Verification, Validation and Usability
December 7, 2010		9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Central time/Chicago)
Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/349459529

This three-hour workshop is designed to assist project managers, project
staff, and data users in understanding (1) the processes necessary to
determine if data are suitable for their intended use and (2) techniques
for documenting data quality in order to comply with requirements of the
Data Quality Act and EPA’s quality system.  Topics will address both new
and existing data.  The course will discuss the importance of up-front
planning to ensure that project data will be able to support the
required decision and to ensure that sufficient information is available
to the data reviewer and data user to characterize the usability of the
data.  Data review and data quality considerations for each aspect of
the project scope that can affect data usability (e.g., sampling/field
data, sample transport data, laboratory data) also will be discussed.

The information will be presented by experts from EPA and its support
contractors. These organizations have conducted data gathering, review,
validation, and assessment in development of effluent guidelines and
standards for more than 750 subcategories of industry, and in support of
major national studies of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic
pollutants (PBT) in fish, the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program, Great
Lakes Legacy Act sediment assessment and remediation programs, the Lake
Michigan Mass Balance Study, and EPA’s recent study of Contaminants of
Emerging Concern (CECs) in publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).
William A. Telliard, now-retired Chief of the EPA Office of Water
Engineering and Analytical Support Branch, will assist with the
presentation and address how data gathering supports decisions in a
regulatory framework.  A question and answer period will conclude this
session and allow participants the opportunity to receive specific
guidance.

Quality Documentation Tracking, Inventory, and Reporting
December 7, 2010		1:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Central time/Chicago)
Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/692478921

Tracking and reporting the status of quality requirement implementation
for projects is a critical component of all quality programs.
Development and approval of quality documentation, such as quality
assurance project plans, is often a requirement for projects that
involve the collection or use of environmental data.  This two-hour
training will discuss the importance of inventory, tracking, and
reporting for project quality documentation throughout the review and
approval process and present example procedures for these quality
program components. The training will include a demonstration of QA
Track, GLNPO’s Web application designed for tracking quality
documentation through the review and approval process, and reporting on
the status of quality documentation at the project level. QA Track is
one example of a system that can be used to implement inventory and
reporting for quality documentation status in support of quality
programs.  Examples of reports that can be used to communicate the
status of quality documentation to management and project participants
will be presented.  Louis Blume of U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes National
Program Office (GLNPO) and Elizabeth Benjamin of CSC, who supports the
quality inventory process for GLNPO, will conduct this session.

Field and Laboratory Auditing
December 7, 2010		3:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Central time/Chicago)
Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/145760264

This two-hour training module will focus on how to plan, conduct, and
report upon audits of laboratories and field operations.  The training
will address the “what, why, who, when and how” of auditing including,
the various types of audits (such as routine and corrective action),
establishing project requirements against which to audit, assembling an
audit team, developing relevant audit procedures for a specific project,
audit documentation, and corrective actions and follow-up.  Common
pitfalls will be discussed and examples of common findings will be
provided.  This training will be conducted by Dr. Harry McCarty of CSC,
a chemist with more than 30 years of experience in environmental
chemistry and analytical methods development; Ms. Carol Lynes of EPA
Region 2 who will discuss the auditing program and experiences of the
EPA Regional program; Dr. Richard Barbiero of CSC and Loyola University,
a limnologist with more than 20 years experience with analysis and
interpretation of biology and chemical limnological data; and William
Telliard, now-retired Chief of U.S. EPA’s Engineering and Analytical
Services Branch, who will discuss his experiences in Office of Water.
_______________________
Pranas Pranckevicius, CISSP
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office
77 West Jackson Blvd.  G-17J
Chicago, IL  60604-3590
pranckevicius.pranas at epa.gov
312 353-3437 Tel | 312 385-5446 Fax
www.epa.gov/greatlakes