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For effective regulation of air emissions from IPPC and Waste Licensed sites, monitoring data submitted by licensees must be reliable. In order to ensure this, the EPA has adopted a scheme whereby all monitoring organisations submitting air monitoring data are required to have certification to ISO 17025, including the technical endorsement CEN/TS 15675, by January 2014. One common misunderstanding is that certification of a laboratory or monitoring organisation to just ISO 17025 fulfils the EPA requirement (many contractors have gained this certification for their water testing and other analytical services). However, this is not sufficient for the EPA - the scope of the quality system must include the technical endorsement CEN/TS 15675 (Air quality - Measurement of stationary source emissions - application of EN ISO /IEC 17025:2005 to periodic measurements). On the face of it, this is an excellent scheme as it imposes the proven ISO 17025 Laboratory Quality System on contractors and extends the scope of the quality system to stack monitoring. This is similar to the situation in the UK where such certification is mandatory. However, as always, the devil is in the detail. Due to the small size of the Irish market, there are a large number of small air monitoring contractors. To achieve the necessary certification requires that INAB be used - this is an expensive process and is not helped by the fact that only one organisation (INAB) can offer this service. In addition, the scheme will require the air monitoring contractor to demonstrate competency at a location equipped with a stack for assessment purposes. There is currently no such stack in Ireland and Irish air monitoring teams will have to travel to the National Physics Laboratory in the UK to demonstrate their competence. Thus, the costs of certification will be significant, but due to the small size of the market, these costs cannot be spread out. Many of the smaller Irish air monitoring contractors will not be able to afford these costs and will withdraw from the market - at least one such contractor has already withdrawn. In view of the above, Environmental Efficiency has decided that the most cost effective way to offer a fully accredited air monitoring service is to use its associate company in the UK - Environmental Evaluation. Environmental Evaluation is well known in the UK, has full ISO 17025 and CEN/TS 15675 certification and a prestigious list of clients. Environmental Efficiency will remain the client's contact and undertake the pre-site audits and liaison. Environmental Evaluation will be responsible for the monitoring and reporting. In order to keep costs down for clients, the monitoring team will include an Environmental Efficiency MCerts technician - this means only one technician will travel from the UK, with a resultant significant reduction in costs. On this basis, Environmental Efficiency is pleased to announce that, with immediate effect, it is able to offer an air monitoring service fully compliant with the EPA Jan 2014 deadline for full ISO 17025 CEN/TS 15675 certification of air monitoring. For further information on Environmental Efficiency's specialised air monitoring service - Click Here - or, alternatively, email: [email protected]
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