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Recognizing that New England has a rich supply of innovative ideas and technologies that can benefit both the
environment and the economy—if only they find their way to the marketplace—EPA New England established the
Center for Environmental Industry and Technology (the Center or CEIT). The mission of the Center is to be a
window to resources, people, and programs for the environmental technology industry in New England,
and to promote the acceptance of innovative environmental technologies to solve the most significant
environmental problems in New England. Through extensive collaboration and networking with other state and
federal agencies, the Center offers sendees for environmental technology developers in the following areas: access
to information, and assistance in overcoming regulator}? and institutional barriers. In order to promote the acceptance
of innovative technologies, the Center also provides access to technology information for the regulated and non-
regulated community.
Technology innovation is indispensable to achieving national and international environmental goals. Current
technologies are inadequate for solving many present and emerging environmental problems or. in some cases, are too
costly for widespread adoption. The policy and regulatory framework administered by EPA and state environmental
agencies creates the primary commercial demand for environmental technologies. As this framework has evolved
and technology has been installed to meet its requirements, incentives for creating and adopting the next generation of
innovative technologies have lessened. Technology developers generally
do not have the time to investigate the array of state and federal programs
that provide assistance to their industry, and they confront a range of
regulatory and market-based obstacles to acceptance of their products.
Their market, the regulated community, is frequently not aware of the
technologies which could bring them into compliance or take them be-
yond compliance.
"Today's complex and
evolving environmental
challenges demand
creative tools and
techniques to solve them.
Innovative environmental
technologies will provide the
solutions necessary to
address the challenges we
face today and in the future.
W. Varney
Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency—New England
to
to for
The Center acts as a clearinghouse for information, simplifying the
technology developer's search for the right federal or state program.
Through its Ombudsman Hotline. CEIT staff refer callers to the
appropriate organization, program or agency. Environmental and energy
technology developers are encouraged to subscribe to the Center's free
monthly electronic newsletter, EnvirotechNews. It provides technology
developers with : 1) the opportunity to connect with potential technology
users, and 2) time critical information relevant to the environmental
technology industry. The newsletter covers the following topics:
Government Funding Opportunities, Technology Opportunities, Environmen-
tal Technology Verification (ETV) Opportunities, and Upcoming Events.
The monthly issue which is released at the beginning of each month covers
all the topics except the Technology Opportunities which are presented in
special issues of EnvirotechNews. Another source of information is the
Center's web site which is located at: www.epa.gov/ne/assistance/ceit
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The web site directs visitors to many of CEIT's ser-
vices. For more in-depth information, CEIT produces a
technical bulletin entitled TECHNOVATION, highlight-
ing government programs and promising technologies.
The Center also sponsors an annual Golden Opportu-
nity Seminar in which participants learn of opportuni-
ties for research and development funding, such as
EPA's Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) Program. For envirotech companies interested
in joint research and technology development with the
federal government, the Center provides access to the
Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) Coop-
erative Research and Development Agreements
(CRADA) Program. By entering into a CRADA, a
company has the opportunity to access federal labora-
tory facilities, collaborate with government scientists and
engineers, and obtain exclusive licenses.
In Regulatory and
institutional Barriers
Regulatory and institutional barriers often exist because
of a lack of information about new technologies and
the absence of a program which could communicate
the information. In response to this problem, the
Center collaborated with the New England Governors
Conference (NEGC) to initiate the New England
Interstate Regulatory Cooperation Project. This
project is a remarkable compact of the six New England
state environmental and public health agencies who are
cooperating in a regional program to promote the
acceptance of innovative environmental technologies.
Another program which has proven to help technology
developers overcome the resistance to new technologies
is EPA's Environmental Technology Verification
(ETV) Program. ETV was instituted to verify the per-
formance of innovative technical solutions to problems
that threaten human health or the environment. EPA's
independent Science Advisory Board stated in a recent
report, "The scarcity of independent and credible tech-
nology information is one critical barrier to the use of
innovative environmental technologies.. .Verification test-
ing information provided by the ETV program fulfills an
essential need of the environmental technology market-
place." The Center works closely with ETV, and it fre-
quently refers technology developers to ETV's verifica-
tion centers. For more information on ETV, please visit:
www.epa.gov/etv
to Technology Information
As a means of disseminating the latest information
on new technologies, the Center offers Virtual
Trade Shows, maintains an Innovative Technology
Inventory, and connects regulated entities to
technology developers through EnvirotechNews.
After five years of sponsoring technology trade shows
on non-point source pollution, the Center now offers
Stormwater and Wastewater Virtual Technology
Trade Shows on its web site. The trade shows include
background information, as well as information on
regulations and permitting, technologies, and links to other
relevant sites. Also available on the Center's web site is
the Innovative Technology Inventory, a unique data
base of commercially available innovative environmental
technologies. Technologies are organized under twelve
categories, and the technology description includes a link
to the vendor's web site. New technology vendors can
down load the entry forms and instructions from CEIT's
web site. EnvirotechNews's Technology Opportunities
offer technology developers the unique opportunity to
connect with companies that may be looking for new
solutions to specific environmental problems. CEIT
summarizes current enforcement actions or environmental
problem statements from our web site, announces
them under Technology Opportunities, and allows
the technology developer to respond. The Center
then forwards the responses to the potential users.
Through the inventory, the virtual trade shows, and
EnvirotechNews, the Center works to promote greater
acceptance of innovative technologies in the marketplace.
f/EPA
New England
for
Environmental
&
Technology
Ombudsman Hotline: 1-800-575-CEIT
617-918-1783 (beyond New England)
Contact the staff: Maggie Theroujc,
Peters
EPA Region 1, New England
1 Congress Street, Suite 1100 (SPP)
Boston, MA 02114-2023
For additional information, visit our Web site at http://www.epa.gov/region01/assistance/ceit/
To subscribe to EnvirotechNews, send a blank email message to: envirotechnews-subscribe@lists.epa.gov
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