TNI Supports Laboratory Testing as an Essential Service during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Date Posted: 3-30-2020

On March 26, 2020, EPA announced they will exercise reasonable enforcement discretion for noncompliance to EPA regulations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, if regulated entities take the steps applicable to their situations. The memo specifically mentions compliance monitoring, sampling, laboratory analysis, and reporting and discusses the key role laboratories play. The memo however does not govern State enforcement decisions and the memo does require regulated facilities to meet specified criteria. TNI believes environmental laboratories are essential to the protection of the environmental and public health. As such, TNI supports the efforts these laboratories are undertaking to ensure sufficient laboratory testing capacity exists to respond to monitoring needs of the regulated community and the public.   https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/oecamemooncovid19implications.pdf