230F96004
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
EPA 230-F-96-004
May 1996
Innovative Technology Council
Environmental
Technology
Initiative
The Environmental Technology
Initiative, (ETI), is an interagency effort
led by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, (EPA). Launched
by President Clinton in 1993, ETI is
supporting more than 250 partnerships
and projects throughout the United
States to improve public health and
environmental protection by removing
barriers to technology innovation.
Environmental technologies prevent
pollution, control and treat air and
water pollution, remediate contaminat-
ed soil and groundwater, reduce green-
house gas emissions, assess and moni-
tor pollution levels, and manage envi-
ronmental information.
ETI
Environmental Technology Initiative
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To Protect Public Health
ETI encourages the creation and use of innovative
environmental technologies that provide cleaner
air, safer drinking water, and cleaner sites for eco-
nomic development. Companies and communi-
ties throughout the United States want to take
advantage of innovative technologies to prevent
pollution, reduce their use of toxics, energy, and
non-renewable resources, and develop new tools
to reduce health risks. In many cases, technolo-
gies exist which can address public health con-
cerns, but smaller businesses and communities
may not be aware of them or may need assistance
putting them in place. State permitting authorities
may also lack the resources to assess the value of
these innovations. ETI investments create public-
private partnerships among stakeholders who do
not have the support to pursue technology inno-
vation opportunities on their own.
To Protect the
Environment
By supporting state, local, and private efforts to
find innovative technological solutions to their
environmental problems, ETI plays an integral role
in EPA's efforts to reinvent regulation by moving
from "command and control" approaches to new,
more flexible, performance-based systems. ETI is
providing incentives and removing barriers to
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A Virtual Tour of S
PERFORMANCE VERIFICATIONS
MAKE TECHNOLOGIES APPROVABLE
• ETI partnership with EPA, California EPA, NSF International
(Michigan), Sandia National Laboratory (New Mexico),
University of Illinois and other
• Partners verify the cost and performance of new pollution
prevention,drinking water treatment, characterization and
monitoring, and indoor air technologies
• Enhances our capability to more cost effectively protect public health
and the environment by providing regulators with credible performance
data that supports the use of new or improved technologies
Pilot projects will assess whether public-private verification partnerships
are effective in moving technologies to market
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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERS EASE
INTRODUCTION OF SAFER SUBSTITUTES
• ETI partnership with EPA, Midwest Research Institute,
American Furniture Manufacturers Association, and
numerous furniture and coatings manufacturers
• Eases introduction of safer substitutes for hazardous
solvents, furniture coatings, and industrial chemicals
used by many different companies
Protects public health and the environment by reducing emissions
of chemicals that create smog and respiratory problems
COMMON SENSE APPROACHES TO METAL FINISHING
ETI partnership involving the Metal Finishing Association of Southern California,
metal finishing companies, the California Manufacturing Technology Cente^
state and local regulatory agencies,
community members, and EPA Region 9.
• Protects public health and the environment by reducing toxic emissions
and workplace chemical exposures. Results can be transferred to over
3,000 facilities employing 75,000 people
e.g., Marlene McCloud of Ontario, California's Danco Metals is using reverse osmosis
technology to recycle black dye and nickel acetate from the rinse water
back to the process baths and clean water back to the rinse tanks
to reduce wastewater flows.
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elected ETI Projects
COMPANIES AND COMMUNITIES GET
TOP DOLLAR FOR RECYCLING PAPER,
GLASS, AND PLASTICS
• ETI partnership with EPA, the Chicago Board of Trade, New
W York State Office of Recycling Market Development, the U.S. EPA,
i the Clean Washington Center, and the National Recycling
' Coalition/Recycling Advisory Council
• Market-based approach to trading recyclable paper, glass and
using the Chicago Board of Trade electronic commodities exchange
cts the environment by reducing demand for waste disposal facilities
(e.g., landfills and incinerators)
rovides economic opportunities for companies and value-added
production in communities that can create jobs by
making recycled products
COMPANIES MEET AIR QUALITY STANDARDS WITH
FLEXIBLE PERMITS WHILE THEY RE-ENGINEER PRODUCT LINES
• ETI partnership with the EPA, State of Connecticut,
CYTEC Industries and others
• Injects flexibility into Clean Air Act Title V air permits
1 Protects public health with flexible operating permits that
meet air quality standards while accommodating companies' needs
• Ensures compliance, while saving companies
time and money
CLEANER TECHNOLOGIES MAKE PRINTED
IRING BOARD (PWBs) COMPANIES MORE COMPETITIVE^
• ETI partnership with EPA's Design for the Environment
Program, Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic
lircuits, Silicon Valley Toxics, University of Tennessee, Microelectronics
and Computer Technology Corp., and PWB companies nationwide
• Protects public health by providing small business technologies that
reduce exposure to toxic chemicals. Companies reduce energy and
water use, making them more competitive.
ry Roper, VP of Process Engineering of H-R Industries plans to use
ct results to pick technologies for a new plant in Richardson,
that will double daily production and reduce water usage
by 70% and sludge by 85%.
ETI FACTS
• $104 Million Invested
• 274 Projects and
Partnerships
• Over 4,000
Stakeholders Nationwide
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using new technologies by piloting technology
verification programs to give decision-makers
more credible information and injecting more
flexibility in regulations and approval procedures.
These actions can move the regulated communi-
ty "beyond compliance", cutting the cost of meet-
ing federal and state standards, while gaining
superior environmental results.
To Provide Economic
Opportunity
ETI helps the U.S. capitalize on its head-start in
the environmental technology market. By
encouraging the creation and use of innovative
technologies, ETI is creating jobs, cutting compli-
ance costs, making companies more efficient and
competitive, and improving environmental ser-
vices.
Environmental technology is a high-wage, high-
growth industry. More than one million
Americans are employed by more than 50,000
environmental technology companies nation-
wide, many of whom are small businesses. The
United States is by far the largest single market for
environmental technology, estimated by
Environmental Business International at $165 bil-
lion in 1994. Global markets are expected to
grow to as much as $500 billion by the year 2000.
Our trade competitors, Japan and Germany, rec-
ognize environmental technology as a leading
21st century industry and are positioning them-
selves to compete aggressively in the global mar-
ket. ETI assists the U.S. to win this competition for
global markets.
How are partnerships and projects
chosen for ETI funding?
ETI projects are selected through an open compe-
tition process. ETI funding is strategically invest-
ed in partnerships and projects that have been
evaluated by federal interagency committees and
scientifically peer-reviewed by non-government
experts.
How have ETI resources been
invested?
In Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995, ETI invested $104
million in 274 partnerships and projects through-
out the United States. Awards range from several
thousand dollars to more than a million. Many
projects' partners are investing 3 to 4 dollars for
every ETI dollar invested.
xvEPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, S.W. (2127)
Washington, D.C. 20460
ETI Infoline: (202) 260-2686
http://www.epa.gov
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