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Committee approves drinking-water lab certification fee increases and updates to incorporate EPA manual
Summary
The committee approved a rules docket that increases certain laboratory certification fees and incorporates by reference an EPA supplement that covers testing for giardia and cryptosporidium; DHW said no in-state labs currently hold those certifications.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a rule docket updating the Idaho Drinking Water Lab Certification Program, including fee increases and incorporation by reference of portions of the EPA manual for laboratory certification.
DHW Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief Jared Larson said the rulemaking is a zero-based review that eliminates redundant language and incorporates by reference "Supplement 2" to the EPA manual for Certification of Laboratories Analyzing Drinking Water (fifth edition). Larson said that incorporation reduces text in the rules by relying on the EPA manual rather than repeating its detailed technical requirements.
The docket proposes to increase the annual base certification fee for Idaho chemistry testing labs from $50 to $100 per chemistry discipline, move microbiology testing labs to a flat annual fee of $150, and increase the annual certification fee for out-of-state chemistry labs from $50 to $200. The department estimated the net annual receipts increase at about $8,300 and said the fee schedule had not been updated since 2011.
Senator Harris asked whether the incorporation would subject Idaho to future EPA changes as the referenced manual is updated. Dr. Christopher Ball, chief of the Bureau of Laboratories within DHW's Division of Public Health, said the supplement was published in 2012 and was not previously incorporated; he added there are currently no Idaho laboratories certified to test for giardia and cryptosporidium under that supplement, so immediate impact is expected to be minimal.
The committee approved the docket by voice vote. DHW said the proposal had been subject to negotiated rulemaking and that the fee rule received no public comment during an extended comment period.
Why it matters: The updates change statutory-fee language and bring Idaho rules into alignment with nationally recognized laboratory standards. Laboratories and public-water systems may see modest fee increases.
