diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index b72f2dcd..9f8a8e95 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ The following are certain Google Provider-specific things to be aware of when co
 
 ## Go
 
+See the root [README](../README.md) for information on which version of Go you need to use the provider. Generally, this will
+be the latest stable release of Go.
+
 We aim to make the Google Provider a good steward of Go practices. See https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/CodeReviewComments for common Go mistakes that you should attempt to avoid.
 
 ## Autogenerated Resources
@@ -30,28 +33,34 @@ If you're developing against Magic Modules, vendoring changes is done automatica
 
 ### Running Tests
 
-The following environment variables must be set in order to run tests:
+Configuring tests is similar to configuring the provider; see the [Provider Configuration Reference](https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/google/provider_reference.html#configuration-reference) for more details. The following environment variables must be set in order to run tests:
+
 ```
 GOOGLE_PROJECT
-GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS or GOOGLE_USE_DEFAULT_CREDENTIALS
-```
-For certain tests, the following variables may also need to be set:
-```
+GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS
 GOOGLE_REGION
+GOOGLE_ZONE
+```
+
+To ensure that your tests are performed in a region and zone with wide support for GCP feature, `GOOGLE_REGION` should be set to `us-central1` and `GOOGLE_ZONE` to `us-central1-a`.
+
+For certain tests, primarily those involving project creation, the following variables may also need to be set. Most tests do
+not require their being set:
+
+```
 GOOGLE_ORG
 GOOGLE_BILLING_ACCOUNT
 ```
 
-The only region we support running tests in right now is `us-central1` - some products that are tested here are only available in a few regions, and the only region that all products are available in is `us-central1`.
+To run a specific test, use `TESTARGS`, such as in:
 
-To run a specific test, use a command such as:
 ```
 make testacc TEST=./google TESTARGS='-run=TestAccContainerNodePool_basic'
 ```
 
 The `TESTARGS` variable is regexp-like, so multiple tests can be run in parallel by specifying a common substring of those tests (for example, `TestAccContainerNodePool` to run all node pool tests).
 
-To run all tests, you can simply omit the `TESTARGS` argument - but please keep in mind that that is quite a few tests and will take quite a long time and create some fairly expensive resources.  It usually is not advisable to run all tests.
+To run all tests, you can omit the `TESTARGS` argument - but please keep in mind that that is quite a few tests and will take quite a long time and create some fairly expensive resources.  It usually is not advisable to run all tests.
 
 ### Writing Tests