Volume 43 - Issue 26 - June 27, 2024
State of Kansas
Department of Health and Environment
Notice of Hearing on Proposed Administrative Regulations
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Division of Public Health, Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL), will conduct a public hearing at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 17, 2024, in the Azure Conference Room, 4th Floor, Curtis State Office Building, 1000 SW Jackson, Topeka, Kansas, to consider the adoption of proposed KDHE Article 15 amended and new regulations regarding health and environmental laboratory certification.
A summary of the proposed regulations, estimated economic impact, and environmental benefit follows:
The proposed amended Article 15 regulations K.A.R. 28-15-35, 28-15-36, 28-15-36a, and 28-15-37 update, clarify, and add additional defined terms, split non-definition information into ten smaller regulations, adopt by reference the 2016 version of The NELAC Institute (TNI) Standard, modify regulation regarding field laboratories, and modify and update fees.
The proposed new Article 15 regulations K.A.R. 28-15-35a, 28-15-35b, 28-15-35c, 28-15-35d, 28-15-35e, 28-15-35f, 28-15-35g, 28-15-35h, 28-15-35i, and 28-15-35j describe requirements for environmental laboratories to achieve and maintain certification pursuant to K.S.A. 65-1,109a, maintain the two-tier certification system consisting of field laboratories and laboratories certified to the TNI Standard, add language to allow the certification office more flexibility on how to handle applications and audit laboratories, provide detailed requirements for specific situations, including the following: applications, assessments, proficiency testing, certificate expiration, denial, suspension, revocation, secondary laboratory certification, mobile laboratory certification, withdrawal of certification, and change in legal status, ownership, or location.
Economic Impact
Cost to the agency: The proposed regulations will not result in increased costs to the agency as they will increase efficiencies and reduce the amount of paperwork and associated costs for the agency.
Cost to the public and regulated community: The Economic Impact Statement indicated that there are additional costs to businesses and laboratories that are government owned. It is possible for these businesses and laboratories to pass along those costs to the public.
Costs to other governmental agencies or units: The Economic Impact Statement indicated costs to local government units. Some laboratories that currently hold certification from Kansas are governmental, city, or county owned. The proposed fee changes include restructuring of fees in addition to some updates. The fee changes affect all types of laboratories.
A detailed economic impact is provided in the Economic Impact Statement that is available from the designated KDHE contact staff person or at the KDHE Laboratory website, as listed below.
Environmental Benefit
Facilities that discharge with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit discharge directly into the environment. So the quality of that data needs to be known. Kansas has over 1,000 public water supply systems that deliver drinking water directly into Kansas homes. The KDHE program certifies 76 laboratories that analyze drinking water from all of these systems so that it is known, with reliability, what is in the water that Kansans drink.
The time period between the publication of this notice and the scheduled hearing constitutes a 60-day public comment period for the purpose of receiving written public comments on the proposed regulations. All interested parties may submit written comments prior to 5:00 p.m. on the day of the hearing to Carissa Robertson, Kansas Department of Health and Environmental Laboratories, 6810 SE Dwight St., Topeka, KS 66620 or by email to Carissa.Robertson@ks.gov. Interested parties are encouraged to participate in the public hearing by submitting written comments.
During the hearing, all interested parties will be given a reasonable opportunity to present their views orally on the proposed regulations as well as an opportunity to submit their written comments. It is requested that each individual giving oral comments also provide a written copy of the comments for the record. In order to give each individual an opportunity to present their views, it may be necessary for the hearing officer to request that each presenter limit an oral presentation to an appropriate time frame.
Complete copies of the proposed regulations and the corresponding Economic Impact Statement and Environmental Benefit Statement may be obtained from the KDHE Laboratory website at https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/908/Laboratories or by contacting Carissa Robertson, at Carissa.Robertson@ks.gov or 785-291-3162. Questions pertaining to the proposed regulations should be directed to Carissa Robertson at the contact information above.
Any individual with a disability may request accommodation in order to participate in the public hearing and may request the proposed regulations and the economic impact statement and environmental benefit statement in an accessible format. Requests for accommodation to participate in the hearing should be made at least five working days in advance of the hearing by contacting Carissa Robertson.
Janet Stanek
Secretary
Department of Health and Environment
Doc. No. 052259
