NIST Charleston originated through a 1995 agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NIST to establish the National Marine Analytical Quality Assurance Program (NMAQAP). Through this program NIST was tasked with several key responsibilities requiring a NIST presence with the NOAA Laboratory in Charleston. These tasks included:
        . establishing an environmental specimen bank dedicated to the cryogenic banking marine environmental specimens for the assessment of long-term trends in environmental quality;
       . developing quality assurance exercises for chemical analysis of marine environmental samples (particularly contaminant analysis) to insure that coastal management decisions affecting changes in legislation, health, trade, and economics are based on valid measurements; and
       . building strategic collaborations.

The building of strategic collaborations culminated in 2000 when NIST became a partner in the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) through a Joint Project Agreement (JPA) signed by NIST, NOAA, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, College of Charleston, and Medical University of South Carolina.