Page 15 - 2015 A2LA AnnualReport

Recognition of
Recognition of A2LA programs includes formal
written agreements between A2LA and users of
accredited organizations, officially documented
endorsements of A2LA programs, and informal
acceptance between A2LA and various parties.
Below are listed the Federal agencies, State
agencies, and private sector parties with whom
A2LA had some type of formal written agreement
of recognition or documented endorsement in
2015.
n As of March 25, 2014, the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has
approved A2LA as an Accreditation Organiza-
tion for the accreditation of clinical laboratories accreditation body located in North America.
under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement
Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) for all specialty
and subspecialty areas under CLIA. CMS grants
this “deeming authority” to an Accreditation
Organization if its requirements for laboratories
accredited under its program are equal to or
more stringent than the applicable CLIA program
requirements in 42 CFR Part 493. A2LA’s program
requirements were found to meet or exceed the
applicable CLIA requirements and, as a result,
A2LA has been granted “deeming authority”
by CMS.
n The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)
formally recognizes A2LA as a laboratory accredi-
tation body working in cooperation with the EPA
National Lead (Pb) Laboratory Accreditation
Program (NLLAP) to accredit lead (Pb) testing
laboratories. Laboratories seeking to be listed
on the NLLAP approved list must comply with
the additional Environmental Lead (Pb) Program
Requirements.
Programs
n A2LA is recognized by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an
accreditation body for Product Certification Bodies
wishing to certify products for the EPA ENERGY
STAR Program, as well as being recognized as an
accreditation body for testing laboratories wishing
to test products for this program. In January
2011, the EPA implemented a major overhaul to
the ENERGY STAR program, and began requiring
third-party certification of all products which were Road and Paving Materials”, Section 8.1.5, Note 8.
to receive the ENERGY STAR mark. Certification
Bodies wishing to be recognized by the EPA are
required to gain and maintain accreditation
to ISO/IEC Guide 65 from an IAF MLA signatory
Testing laboratories wishing to be recognized for
product testing services must either hold accredi-
tation to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 through a recognized
accreditation body, or be part of a recognized
certification body’s Witnessed Manufacturer’s
Test Lab (WMTL) or Supervised Manufacturer’s Test
Lab (SMTL) program. A2LA is one of a select few
accreditation bodies recognized to offer product
certification accreditation for the ENERGY STAR
program, and is the only American accreditation
body which can offer testing (ISO/IEC 17025) and
product certification (ISO/IEC Guide 65) assess-
ments in a ‘one-stop-shop’ setting.
n The EPA requires all products bearing the
WaterSense label to be independently certified
by a certification body who has been accredited
by one of the approved accreditation bodies,
of which A2LA is one. This certification provides
consumers with confidence in both the water
efficiency and performance of WaterSense
labeled products.
n The U.S Federal Aviation Administration
recognizes A2LA as an “evaluation authority”
as specified in ASTM C1077 “Standard Practice
for Laboratories Testing Concrete and Concrete
Aggregates for Use in Construction and Criteria
for Laboratory Evaluation”, Sections. 3.1.1.1 and
11, and as a “national authority” as specified in
ASTM D3666, “Standard Specification for Minimum
Requirements for Agencies Testing and Inspecting
n The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),
in Volume 6, Chapter 9, Section 9 “Inspect a
Part 145 Repair Station’s Tools and Equipment”,
requires that all measuring and test equipment be
traceable to a standard acceptable to the FAA
(such as through an NMI). To meet this require-
ment, the FAA accepts equipment calibrated by
a calibration laboratory that is accredited by an
ILAC MRA signatory accreditation body (such as
A2LA).
n The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
National DNA Index Systems (NDIS) Procedures
Board has approved the designation of A2LA as
an accrediting agency under the United States
Federal DNA Identification Act (42 U.S.C. 14132).
(http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/biometric-
analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet) As a
designated agency, A2LA, through its Forensic
Accreditation Program, is recognized to accredit
laboratories performing DNA analyses on DNA
samples obtained from identified subject(s) for
the purposes of entering the resulting DNA profile
or DNA record into a DNA database, as well as
laboratories performing DNA analyses on known
or casework reference samples considered
evidence by that laboratory. In addition,
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