Section NR 193.17 - Project quality assurance requirements(1) A grantee shall ensure that its staff, contractors, volunteers, and service providers conducting activities funded with a grant awarded under this chapter complete minimum training requirements or demonstrate sufficient proficiency for grant-funded activities, when established by the department, prior to the start of the project. A grantee may contact department staff for information on training requirements or alternate proficiency standards and any department-sponsored training opportunities.(2) A grantee shall ensure that all analyses conducted as part of a project funded with a grant awarded under this chapter are performed by the Wisconsin state laboratory of hygiene or a laboratory approved in writing by the department.(3) A grantee shall implement department-approved quality assurance and quality control plans during the project period. If such protocols do not exist, a grantee collecting physical, biological, or chemical data may be required to submit a quality assurance and quality control plan to the department for approval prior to beginning a project funded with a grant awarded under this chapter. Quality assurance and quality control plans shall include details on the data and information to be collected, data quality standards for precision, accuracy, completeness and validation, and a plan for data management. The department may require program-approved monitoring protocols or maintenance activities necessary to track project progress or outcomes.(4) A grantee shall submit to the department all data and other information acquired as part of a project funded with a grant awarded under this chapter in a format and frequency specified by the department in the grant agreement.(5) A grantee shall employ program-approved protocols to accomplish project activities. If protocols are not available for proposed activities, an applicant may be required to submit a plan for department approval prior to beginning a project funded with a grant awarded under this chapter.Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources NR 193.17
Adopted by, CR 19-078: cr. Register May 2020 No. 773, eff. 6/1/2020Program-approved protocols include aquatic plant baseline monitoring, aquatic plant pre/post treatment monitoring, wetland plant community assessment and wetland pre/post treatment monitoring, water clarity and chemistry monitoring, aquatic invasive species early detection, prevention, and monitoring, lake classification and assessment, macroinvertebrate community monitoring, water quality monitoring, and social science.