Code of Federal Regulations Title 40. Protection of Environment § 40.792.190 Storage and retrieval of records and data

(a) All raw data, documentation, records, protocols, specimens, and final reports generated as a result of a study shall be retained. Specimens obtained from mutagenicity tests, specimens of soil, water, and plants, and wet specimens of blood, urine, feces, and biological fluids, do not need to be retained after quality assurance verification. Correspondence and other documents relating to interpretation and evaluation of data, other than those documents contained in the final report, also shall be retained.

(b) There shall be archives for orderly storage and expedient retrieval of all raw data, documentation, protocols, specimens, and interim and final reports. Conditions of storage shall minimize deterioration of the documents or specimens in accordance with the requirements for the time period of their retention and the nature of the documents of specimens. A testing facility may contract with commercial archives to provide a repository for all material to be retained. Raw data and specimens may be retained elsewhere provided that the archives have specific reference to those other locations.

(c) An individual shall be identified as responsible for the archives.

(d) Only authorized personnel shall enter the archives.

(e) Material retained or referred to in the archives shall be indexed to permit expedient retrieval.