ANALYSIS OF HB 2117

House Agriculture & Ecology Committee                                                February 25, 1999

Relates to the splitting of test samples with property owners.

BACKGROUND:

The Department of Ecology is sometimes required to enter upon private property when collecting environmental data, including soil, air, or water samples.   In some cases, permission may not always be granted by a property owner.

Splitting of test samples is a recognized method of verifying data.  By using the same sample, but allowing for the  analysis to be conducted in two different manners, judgments can be made about error and bias.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Ecology is required to receive permission from a property owner before entering his or her property for the purpose of environmental sampling.  The Department must also offer to split the sample with the landowner so that he or she may have a separate analysis conducted.