1. North Carolina’s Transition to CMDP
Presenter: Miranda K. Harper
Team Leader for RTCR, GWR, and Nitrates/Nitrites
Public Water Supply Section
NC Department of Environmental Quality

2. North Carolina’s Takeaway from the CMDP Transition
To be able to make it mandatory for all laboratories in NC to use CMDP, we need all EPA approved method code – analyte pairs added to CMDP.
The process for adding missing method code – analyte pairs to CMDP needs to be defined so that states can anticipate how long it will take for missing pairs to be added once a request has been made.
CMDP method code – analyte pair codes need to be revisited to make sure codes are consistent (example: one analyte can have multiple method codes 501 and 501.0).
States need a faster and easier way to compare the method codes they use with those that are in CMDP. Reviewing manually leads to errors that result in missing method codes being overlooked. A comparison tool would be very useful.

3. North Carolina’s Public Water Supply Section Overview
Adopt by reference
Use SDWIS State 3.33
All laboratories required to submit results electronically since 2014
1,995 Community Systems serving population of 8,700,000
351 Non-transient Non-Community Systems serving population of 110,000
3,131 Transient Non-Community Systems serving population of 290,000

4. NC’s Laboratories will be uploading .xml files to CMDP
Users of NC’s Lab Data Submittal (LDS) Application: Laboratories will generate .xml files using NC’s electronic submittal application, Lab Data Submittal (LDS). Files will be pushed to CMDP for user submittal instead of user uploading through Lab-to-State. NC IT staff modified LDS application to match CMDP output schema.
Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) Users:
Laboratories will generate .xml files using LIMS. Users will upload .xml files to CMDP instead of uploading to Lab-to-State. Labs must hire contractor or update output schema in house.

5. NC has 200 Laboratories to Transition to using CMDP
200 laboratories certified to analyze NC drinking water samples
150,000 samples received per year
400,000 sample results received per year
LIMS laboratories submit 75% of NC samples
5 large laboratory companies
Each analyze samples for over 600 water systems
Each have multiple locations and lab ID numbers
These labs submit 70% of NC’s samples
NC’s LDS application is used by 90% of NC’s laboratories but these small labs only submit 25% of NC’s samples

6. How to make transitioning easier for laboratories and staff
NC decided to transition to using CMDP to prepare for SDWIS Prime.
Laboratories will only utilize the .xml file upload portion of CMDP.
This is similar to their current upload process
CMDP will replace the Lab-to-State step of the submittal process
Labs will not be allowed to key sample data directly into CMDP
Files will be generated using either NC’s LDS Application or the Laboratory’s own LIMS.
Users do not have to learn a new interface to generate sample files
The LDS application output file schema was updated by NC IT staff
Provided support to laboratories that had to update LIMS output data
Only registering users for Private Laboratories roles (Not yet registering Water System roles)
Will only be utilizing CMDP for uploading sample data, initially (not yet explored other uses such as the information change requests)

7. Transitioning Timeline of Events
July 2017 – Began preparation of guidance materials
July 2017 through September 2017 – Conversion and Testing of LDS application from Lab-to- State schema to CMDP schema
September sent mass mailing to certified labs through NC’s Lab certifying agency notifying laboratories of the upcoming transition.
October 2017 – Announced transition timeline to NC’s LDS lab users via pop-up announcement on the log-in screen of the Application
November 2017 – Notified large LIMS laboratories of open SCS registration and provided documentation and guidance material to match the CMDP schema
December 2017 – Opened SCS Registration to NC’s LDS lab users and provided registration guidance material
January 2018 – CMDP testing revealed that chemical sample results supported to only 4 decimal places, and CMDP missing EPA approved method code - analyte pairs used in NC
February 2018 – CMDP output schema updated. NC’s IT staff and Labs with LIMS must go back and re-program applications to match new output schema.
March 2018 – CMDP Training for Non-LDS laboratories
Current – Have not yet mandated use of CMDP. Awaiting addition of method code - analyte pairs to CMDP. Approximately 180 labs are still unable to use CMDP due to these missing pairs.

8. Transition Challenges
Tailoring EPA’s guidance material to fit NC’s use of CMDP application
Removed state and water system roles from the role registration guidance
Removed CMDP data input instructions from the user manual
CMDP schema changed in February 2018 after application updates were complete
Modifying method names in SDWIS State to match case sensitive CMDP format and updating labs about the new required method name formats
EPA approved analyte code - method code pairs used by NC labs missing in CMDP
Custom method codes created for NC purposes can not be added to CMDP
Communicating delays to laboratories
Final migration status of samples not always accurately reflected in CMDP
Two instances where sample shows as accepted by state in CMDP but will be rejected by SDWIS State: RTCR monitoring period not associated, and lab not certified for method
Creating a report that will be ed to labs daily to summarize rejections
SCS users cannot modify their primary organization

9. Transition Successes
LIMS users trained on how to upload files to CMDP in March 2018
Two Labs currently using CMDP to upload data to SDWIS State Production
Most LIMS Labs are currently testing application changes in CMDP test environment
107 users registered as Private Laboratory Administrators
Sample Upload Step eliminated for NC’s LDS users with ability to push .xml file to CMDP
Pop-up Notifications in LDS Application used to keep labs informed of transition updates

10. Contact Information
Eric Chai – Applications Systems Analyst
Miranda Harper – Team Leader for RTCR, GWR and Nitrate/Nitrite
Carmalin Walter – Head of Administrative Services