The main reason that the EPA created a "standardized mold analysis" was due to "Most recently mold in Walter Reed outpatient facilities became a significant issue. Yet there has been no standardized, objective method to quantify the mold burden indoors. (Per EPA)".
The test was designed to curtail public discontent in regards to the Walter Reed Military Hospital situation - February 18, 2007 Walter Reed Mold Reports http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html and also reduce the amount of highly publicized mold lawsuits; "The presence of mold in homes and workplaces has led to numerous lawsuits. For example, highly publicized cases involving mold include a Texas homeowner’s successful multi-million-dollar lawsuit against an insurance company related to mold contamination. Moreover, mold contamination at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where soldiers
returning from Iraq are being treated, received significant media coverage." per the United States Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08980.pdf.
This EPA standardization was somewhat made in haste and without sufficient research states the USGAO (link above), "For example, our analysis of the minutes of the 11 committee meetings from February
2005 to February 2008 {the EPA testing protocols were established in 2007} shows that agency priorities related to indoor air quality research, which could include research on mold, were discussed only a few times. In one case, EPA officials described how their agency had developed its research needs on indoor environments, which it published in a document later in 2005 titled Program Needs for Indoor Environments Research. In this case, EPA was not seeking input from other agencies on research needs and priorities but rather was informing other agencies of decisions EPA had made. Moreover, EPA, HHS, and HUD officials who participate in committee meetings told us that they had not discussed or sought input on their agency’s mold-related research priorities during committee meetings. Further, according to committee meeting minutes, the information agency officials share at committee meetings regarding their mold research is limited to describing selected ongoing activities and issues related to their funding. When mold-related research was discussed during the 3-year period we reviewed, it was usually to provide an update on the status of some individual research projects. In several instances, officials also used the meetings to advertise the availability of funding for research on indoor air quality issues, which could include research on mold, or to announce the funding of mold-related research."
So we see how the EPA standardization procedures were formed; in haste and in relative ignorance to calm public discontent.