Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Modeling

By Environmental Protection Agency

Book Id: WPLBN0000125691
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.6 MB
Reproduction Date: 2007

Title:	Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Modeling
Author:	Environmental Protection Agency
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Ecology, Natural resource issues, Environemtal protection
Collections:	Environmental Awareness Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States Environmental Protection Agency


Citation APA MLA Chicago Agency, E. P. (n.d.). Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Modeling. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.cc/

Description
Excerpt: The U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA) Agency has developed the Quality Assurance (QA) Project Plan as a tool for project managers and planners to document the type and quality of data and information needed for making environmental decisions. This document, Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Modeling (EPA QA/G-5M), contains advice and recommendations on how to develop a QA Project Plan for projects involving the model development or application using data acquired from other sources.

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 WHAT ARE EPA’S QUALITY-RELATED POLICIES REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.2 WHAT INFORMATION DOES THIS GUIDANCE PROVIDE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.3 WHY IS PLANNING FOR MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION IMPORTANT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.4 WHAT QUESTIONS DOES THIS GUIDANCE ADDRESS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.5 WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS DOCUMENT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.6 WHAT IS THE GRADED APPROACH TO QA PROJECT PLANS, AND HOW DO I DETERMINE WHAT QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL ACTIVITIES ARE NEEDED FOR A SPECIFIC PROJECT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.7 HOW DOES THIS GUIDANCE FIT IN THE EPA QUALITY SYSTEM? . . . . . . 6 1.8 HOW IS THIS DOCUMENT ORGANIZED? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CHAPTER 2. QA PROJECT PLAN PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.1 GENERAL EPA POLICY ON QA PROJECT PLANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2 QA PROJECT PLAN RESPONSIBILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.3 QA PROJECT PLAN ELEMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING . . . 10 2.4 REVISIONS AND RELATED GUIDANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.4.1 Revisions and Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.4.2 Related Guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 CHAPTER 3. THE MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION PROCESS: RELATIONSHIP TO QA PROJECT PLAN ELEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.1 MODELING NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.1.1 Needs Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.1.2 Define Purpose, Objectives, and Output Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.1.3 Define Quality Objectives, Desired Performance Criteria, and Documentation Needs for Model Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3.1.4 Is a New Model Needed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.2 MODEL DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.2.1 Model Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.2.2 Model Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.2.3 Model Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.2.4 First Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.3 MODEL APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.3.1 Select the Most Appropriate Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.3.2 Consider Site-Specific Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 3.3.3 Are Performance Criteria Met? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25