§ 502 — Environmental laboratories; examinations; certificates of approval

§ 502. Environmental laboratories; examinations; certificates of\napproval. 1. For the purposes of this section, "environmental\nlaboratory" is any facility that examines or is available for the\nexamination of samples or specimens including, but not limited to: air,\nstack emissions, water, wastewater, surface water, ground water,\nrecreational waters, swimming pools, leachate, land runoff, solid waste,\nhazardous waste, soil, sediments and vegetation, as well as any\nsubstance that could contribute to the pollution of or that could be\ncontaminated by material contained in such samples or specimens. Such\nexaminations shall be limited to the qualitative or quantitative\ndeterminations of the biological, chemical, radiochemical or physical\ncharacteristics of such samples or specimens for the purposes of public\nor personal health protection or the protection of the environment or\nnatural resources. Environmental laboratories shall not include\nnon-laboratory chemical testing associated with residential water\nsofteners and residential swimming pools.\n 2. No environmental laboratory may perform any examination on samples\ncollected in the state of New York for which the commissioner issues a\ncertificate of approval for such examination unless the laboratory has\nbeen issued such certificate of approval. Such laboratory examinations\nshall conform to any conditions under which the approval is granted.\n 3. The commissioner may issue to laboratories certificates of approval\ncovering laboratory examinations, including but not limited to, specific\nprocedures or specialities within such categories as wastewaters,\npotable waters, sediments, solid wastes, and air, and may prescribe the\nconditions under which such approvals will be granted. Notwithstanding\nany other conditions which he may prescribe, such an approval shall not\nbe issued hereafter to a laboratory, not heretofore approved, unless the\ndirector or other person in charge of such examinations shall possess\nsuch educational and technical qualifications as the commissioner shall\nprescribe.\n 4. No state agency, authority, county, city, including the city of New\nYork, town, village, water district, sewer district or other political\nsubdivision of the state shall contract with any laboratory for\nlaboratory examinations for which the commissioner issues certificates\nof approval pursuant to subdivision three of this section, unless such\nlaboratory has been issued such certificate.\n 5. Subject to the approval of the director of the budget, the\ncommissioner shall charge adequate and reasonable fees for the periodic\ninspection of out-of-state laboratories.\n 6. Subject to the approval of the director of the budget, the\ncommissioner shall charge laboratories fees to recover the cost to the\ndepartment of operating this program. The commissioner may waive all or\nany part of such fee charges for laboratories operated by the state.\nFees shall include the following:\n (a) a basic amount of five hundred dollars to be charged to each\nlaboratory;\n (b) the balance of the program cost from:\n (1) an additional amount to be charged to each laboratory proportional\nto total adjusted volume of analytes performed by the laboratory in the\npreceding year as defined in regulations of the department, the total\namount collected from which shall equal fifty percent of the balance of\nthe program costs;\n (2) an additional amount to be charged to each laboratory proportional\nto the number of analytes for which such laboratory maintains its\ncertification.\n Subparagraph one of paragraph (b) of this subdivision shall not apply\nto government laboratories.\n 7. For those categories, procedures or specialities as specified in\nsubdivision three for which the commissioner has issued certificates of\napproval, the commissioner shall within thirty days of receipt of an\napplication for a certificate from a laboratory existing on or before\nApril first, nineteen hundred ninety-three, which is initially required\nto obtain certification, review such application and issue an interim\ncertificate of approval in the particular category, procedure or\nspeciality to all laboratories which provide adequate documentation in\ntheir application that they are capable of performing quality work in\nthe category, procedure or speciality under review. An interim\ncertificate of approval in specified categories will remain valid until\nsuch time as the commissioner shall reach a determination on the\napplication.\n 8. The commissioner may adopt and amend rules and regulations to\neffectuate the provisions and purposes of this title.\n 9. A person who intentionally violates or refuses or omits to comply\nwith subdivision two of this section, or any regulation adopted pursuant\nthereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction, by\nimprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than\none thousand dollars or by both such fine and imprisonment. A second or\nsubsequent conviction shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more\nthan one year or a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred\ndollars or by both such fine and imprisonment.\n 10. The department may require an environmental laboratory to report\nlaboratory test results to the department, or to any other health\ndepartment in an electronic manner prescribed by the department.\n