SERDP and ESTCP supported the development and demonstration of classification technologies for use in munitions response for many years.  This support culminated in a series of demonstrations of these technologies in the ESTCP Classification Pilot Program.  One of the main lessons learned from the live-site demonstrations was that a rigorous Quality Control/Quality Assurance program was necessary to give the DoD, site stakeholders, and regulators confidence that the technologies had been applied with proper care and the results could be used to make regulatory decisions.

In April 2016, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Energy, Installations, and Environment) established the DoD Advanced Geophysical Classification Accreditation Program (DAGCAP) to ensure that firms using these technologies had quality systems in place sufficient to successfully perform the work.  The program is administered by the DoD Environmental Data Quality Workgroup.

Accreditation through the DAGCAP is achieved through a two-step process: 1) assessing the organization’s quality system, and 2) successfully demonstrating capabilities performed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground DAGCAP test site and is administered by third-party accreditation bodies.

On March 14^th, one of the firms that participated in the live-site demonstration program was accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.  Congratulations to Parsons for being the first firm accredited for the use of these technologies.  There are a number of other firms working their accreditation process; I expect four or five to be accredited by the beginning of the summer.