Frequently Asked Questions

Only those laboratories submitting community water supply water compliance data to the Illinois EPA Bureau of Water, Compliance Assurance Section must be accredited. Participation in the IL ELAP for any other fields of testing is voluntary. Refer to the following particular Program Office for the most current information on any accreditation requirements:

Bureau of Land: (217) 785-9407
Bureau of Water: (217) 782-1696

To obtain primary NELAP accreditation from the IL ELAP, a laboratory must submit a completed application package, invoice and appropriate fees as according to Part 185: "Environmental Laboratory Certification Fee Rules" and Part 186: "Accreditation of Laboratories For Drinking Water, Wastewater and Hazardous Waste Analyses:". After approval of the application package the laboratory will undergo an on-site evaluation. The laboratory must correct any deficiencies noted during on-site evaluation. Once the application package and on-site evaluation are completed, and the laboratory has demonstrated compliance with Part 186, the laboratory will be granted accreditation for the requested fields of testing, methods and analytes.

The application and invoice may be obtained by contacting a memeber of the IL ELAP staff. The application and invoice are also available on our Application Package web page. The laboratory may also download a copy of Part 185: "Environmental Laboratory Certification Fee Rules" and Part 186: "Accreditation of Laboratories For Drinking Water, Wastewater and Hazardous Waste Analyses:" from our Rules and Regulations web page.

To obtain secondary NELAP accreditation from the IL ELAP, please contact a member of the IL ELAP staff for more information.

The IL ELAP offers accreditation for the following fields of testing:

• Inorganic Drinking Water
• Inorganic Wastewater
• Inorganic Hazardous Waste
• Organic Drinking Water
• Organic Wastewater
• Organic Hazardous Waste

Effective July 1, 2002 the cost of laboratory accreditation is based upon the following fee schedule:

The laboratory can figure the cost for accreditation by adding the cost of each field of testing for which the laboratory will seek accreditation plus the administrative fee. For example, if your laboratory wanted to pursue accreditation for Inorganic Wastewater, Organic Wastewater and Inorganic Hazardous Waste your annual accreditation fees would be as follows:

NOTE: If the laboratory is applying for the first time, the initial application fee of $1,500.00 must be added to this total.

Accreditation fees are paid on an annual basis. Each laboratory's anniversary date will be the same date on which the laboratory's initial accreditation is granted. The laboratory's accreditation fees are due annually on the anniversary date of initial accreditation.

No. Pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 185, Section185.203, any assessment remitted to the Agency under this Part can not be refunded.

Yes. Any laboratory located in the United States or its' territories can apply for accreditation.

To find out more about NELAC/NELAP you can contact a member of the IL ELAP staff or visit the NELAC web site.

To find out which states are recognized NELAP accrediting authorities (AA) you can visit the NELAC web site. The NELAC web site lists each NELAP recognized AA and the contact information for each AA.

All laboratories seeking and maintaining accreditation with the IL ELAP must comply with all aspects of :

Title 35, Subtitle A, Chapter II, Part 185:(Part 185)

"Environmental Laboratory Certification Fee Rules". Part 185 establishes procedures for the determination and the collection of the annual administrative assessment and the annual laboratory accreditation assessments from environmental laboratories for public water supply analyses, water pollution analyses, and for hazardous and other waste parameters.

Title 35, Subtitle A, Chapter II, Part 186: (Part 186)

"Accreditation of Laboratories For Drinking Water, Wastewater and Hazardous Waste Analyses:" This Part establishes the general provisions applicable to the accreditation program administered under this Part.

The various analytical methods (minus ASTM) can be obtained from the National Environmental Monitoring Index at NEMI.gov.

You can view the Table of Contents for the Illinois Register at the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Index web site. For subscription information you can contact:

Illinois Secretary of State
Department of Index
Administrative Code Division
111 E. Monroe Street
Springfield, Illinois 62756
(217) 782-7017

There are various ways to obtain copies of the Federal Register. Below are a few links to Federal Register sites.

Federal Register Notice Table of Contents (Daily)

This links to the US Government Printing Office. This links directly to a portable document file (.pdf) file which contains the Federal Register Notice Table of Contents for that particular day on which you are browsing the link. If you have previously used this link please remember to clear your computers cache or hit reload or refresh prior to linking to this site to ensure that you are not getting a file from your computers cache.

Federal Register Notices (Archives)

This links to the US Government Printing Office Federal Register On-Line web site. This site is a database for the 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 Federal Register (Volumes 60, 61, 62 and 63). The 1994 Federal Register (Volume 59) database is also available, however, it contains no fields or section identifiers. Various search options are available.

EPA Federal Register Environmental Documents (Archives)

The EPA Federal Register Environmental Documents contains the full-text of selected Federal Register documents issued from the EPA or other Federal Agencies that concern environmentally related issues. You can select Federal Register notices by date.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is responsible for approving Proficiency Testing (PT) providers. NIST maintains of list of approved PT providers on their web site. You can view the list of approved PT providers. Laboratories accredited by the IL ELAP or seeking accreditation by the IL ELAP must purchase PT samples from one of the providers on this list.

Yes. According to Section 186.130 (5), a laboratory may make a written request to add fields of testing, approved test methods or analytes to its scope of accreditation. For more information on adding to your scope of accreditation contact your designated accreditation officer.

The IL ELAP will put any new updates to the program on the Updates page. The best thing to do is monitor the Illinois Register for any pending changes in our Part 185 or Part 186 and regularly check the Updates page.

The IL ELAP publishes a list of accredited laboratories for use by anyone interested in locating an accredited laboratory. Anyone can obtain a copy of the list of laboratories by:

1. Requesting a copy by calling 217-785-5163
2. Downloading a copy of the List of Laboratories in portable document file (pdf) format.

Mailing Address:

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Laboratories/Lab Accreditation
825 N. Rutledge Ave.
Springfield, Illinois 62702

General Phone Number:

(217) 785-5163
Fax Number:
(217) 524-6376

The IL ELAP accredits laboratories only for chemical analyses. The Illinois Department of Public Health accredits laboratories for microbiological analyses and the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety accredits laboratories for radiological analyses. For more information contact:

Illinois Department of Public Health

Division of Laboratories/Lab Accreditation
Environmental Laboratory Evaluation Unit
825 North Rutledge
P.O. Box 19435
Springfield, IL 62794

Contact: John Spanczak
(312) 793-4760
Web site

Currently, laboratory accreditation for air pollution analyses is not offered by the Illinois EPA. If you would like to request that the IL ELAP add an air pollution field of testing to the IL ELAP please contact the LAU Manager at (217) 557-0274.