Basic Information

EPA's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program (PDF) (2 pp, 202 KB) develops test protocols and verifies the performance of innovative technologies that have the potential to improve protection of human health and the environment. The program was created in October 1995 to help accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplaces. ETV provides credible performance data for commercial-ready environmental technologies to speed their implementation for the benefit of purchasers, permitters, vendors, and the public.

Faster and more widespread implementation of improved technologies helps achieve the EPA’s primary mission—a cleaner and healthier environment. Real-world environmental risk reduction is directly related to the level of performance of technologies used. Because almost all new technology purchased in the United States and abroad is developed by the private sector, stakeholders look to the ETV program for an independent, objective, and high-quality source of information for sound decision making. Vendors of innovative technologies need independent evaluation to help promote their technologies in a risk-adverse environmental marketplace.

ETV is a voluntary program and is operated as a public/private partnership, mainly through cooperative agreements between EPA and private, nonprofit research institutes called ETV verification organizations. ETV currently operates six verification centers that test and evaluate the performance of environmental technology in all environmental media—air, water, and land. In 2005, a new element of ETV was initiated, Environmental and Sustainable Technology Evaluations (ESTE), in which priority technology categories for meeting EPA needs are verified through contracts with verification organizations.

ETV efforts are guided by the expertise of stakeholder groups. These groups consist of representatives of verification customers for particular technology sectors, including technology purchasers and users, technology developers and vendors, state and federal regulators and permitters, consulting engineers, environmental organizations, and others. ETV stakeholders assist the program by developing verification protocols for testing, prioritizing the types of technologies to be verified, and implementing outreach activities to the customer groups they represent.

The definition of ETV verification is to establish or prove the truth of the performance of a technology under specific, pre-determined criteria or protocols and a strong quality management system. The highest-quality data are assured through implementation of the ETV Quality Management Plan (PDF) (84 pp, 744 KB). ETV does not endorse, certify, or approve technologies.

ETV’s verification process includes the development of three main products: verification reports and statements, test/quality assurance plans, and verification protocols.

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