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Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 Basic Information

Resources

Poster: ETV Verified Technology Categories (PDF) (2 pp, 84 KB) July 2011

Fact Sheet: EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program (PDF) (3 pp, 691 KB) (EPA/600/F-08/01) Updated July 2013

Verified Technologies

Environmental Technology Verification Program Quality Management Plan (PDF) (84 pp, 744 KB) (EPA/600/R-08/009) January 2008

Environmental Technology Verification Program, Policy Compendium (PDF) (38 pp, 220 KB) (EPA/600/R-08/025) February 2008

U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification
Program (ETV) Guidelines for Proper Use of the ETV
Name and Logo (PDF)
(15 pp, 646 KB) (EPA/600/R-08/029) March 2008

U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification Program,
Purpose of Verifications and Use of Program Name and Logo (PDF)
(1 p, 33 KB) March 2008

Organization of ETV Program

ETV Verification Process

EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV) (PDF) (3 pp, 691 KB)was created in October 1995 to help accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplaces. It developed test protocols and verified the performance of innovative technologies. ETV provided credible performance data for commercial-ready environmental technologies to speed their implementation for the benefit of purchasers, permitters, vendors and the public. The program concluded operations in March 2014. Faster and more widespread implementation of new or improved technologies helps achieve 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 looked to ETV for an independent, objective and high-quality source of information for sound decision making. Vendors of innovative technologies needed independent evaluation to help promote their technologies in a risk-adverse environmental marketplace.

Faster and more widespread implementation of new or improved technologies helps achieve 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 looked to ETV for an independent, objective and high-quality source of information for sound decision making. Vendors of innovative technologies needed independent evaluation to help promote their technologies in a risk-adverse environmental marketplace.

ETV was a voluntary program and operated as a public/private partnership through cooperative agreements between EPA and private, nonprofit research institutes called ETV verification centers. These centers tested and evaluated the performance of technologies in all environmental media—air, water and land. In 2005, ETV initiated Environmental and Sustainable Technology Evaluations (ESTE), in which priority technology categories for meeting EPA needs were verified through contracts with verification organizations.

ETV efforts were guided by the expertise of stakeholder groups. These groups consisted of representatives of verification customers for particular technology sectors, including:

ETV stakeholders assisted the program by:

The definition of ETV verification was 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 were assured through implementation of the ETV Quality Management Plan (PDF) (84 pp, 744 KB). Note: ETV does not endorse, certify or approve technologies.

ETV’s verification process included the development of three main products:

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Verification Reports and Statements

A verification report was developed for each verified technology. These reports contained the performance verification test results and met ETV’s stringent quality assurance and peer review requirements. The audience for these reports included:

  • Technology developers
  • Distributors
  • Financers
  • Regulators
  • Purchasers
  • Others interested in the performance and commercialization of new environmental technologies.

ETV and its collaborators have conducted, overseen and reported verification activities based on test/quality assurance plans and verification protocols developed with input from stakeholders and customer groups associated with a technology area.

A verification statement is a summary (2 to 7 pages) of the test results for a given environmental technology.

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Test/Quality Assurance Plans
A test/quality assurance plan was developed by the verification center for each technology or technology category tested by ETV. These test/quality assurance plans described the experimental approach employed during testing, with clearly stated test objectives and associated quality objectives for the related measurements. The plans may have incorporated or referenced existing generic verification protocols or provided the basis for refining draft protocols.

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Verification Protocols
Verification protocols promoted uniform controlled testing for a class or category of technologies. They may have retained draft status until the testing was performed and then were finalized by building on the testing experience. In some cases, documentation of a robust test protocol allowed for the development of an abbreviated test/quality assurance plan, which incorporated the verification protocol by reference.

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