Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a) This section
clarifies §§
1171a.29(c)
(relating to testing requirements) and 1171a.31(c) (relating to test results
and reporting). The Department interprets "an approved laboratory other than
the one that tested the harvest batch or lot'' in §
1171a.29(c)(2) to
be a separate and distinct approved laboratory that meets all financial and
professional suitability requirements under this chapter independently from the
approved laboratory that conducted the harvest batch or harvest lot test. The
Department will consider the following factors to determine whether an approved
laboratory is a separate and distinct laboratory:
(1) Separate, independent location from the
other approved laboratory, such as no interest in the land or the building in
which the other approved laboratory is located or part interest in any
mortgage, deed, trust, note or the long-term liability secured in whole or in
part by the land or building in which the other approved laboratory conducts
testing. For clarification, this statement of policy does not impact the
Department's ability to approve laboratories with multiple locations, including
those with shared finances, staffing or operations.
(2) Separate legal entity from the other
approved laboratory.
(3) No shared
financial ownership with the other approved laboratory, such as filing joint
tax returns, shared Federal or Tax Identification Numbers, having direct or
indirect ownership interest in another laboratory, commingling of funds or
shared bank accounts.
(4) Separate
ownership and management in terms of members of a board of directors,
shareholders or partners that represent a controlling interest, or management,
compliance staff or employees in common with the other approved laboratory.
(5) Separate accreditation from
the other approved laboratory.
(6)
Separate operations from the other approved laboratory, such as no shared
policies or standard operating procedures, reliance on input or oversight of
the other approved laboratory or reliance on the other approved laboratory to
financially support the approved laboratory's operations.
(7) No shared equipment or interest in any
mortgage, deed, trust, note or other long-term liability secured in whole or in
part by equipment used by the other approved laboratory.
(b) The Department will consider the factors
in subsection (a)(1)-(7) with respect to determining approved laboratories to
conduct confirming tests for re-testing of previously failed samples in §
1171a.31(c).
The provisions of this §1171a.39 added under sections
102(3)(ii), 301(a)(4) and 704(a) of the act (35 P.S. §§
10231.102(3)(ii),
10231.103(a)(4) and
10231.704(a)).
