UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
\ OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT RESEARCH LABORATORY
CINCINNATI, OHIO 45268
U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification Program,
Purpose of Verifications and Use of Program Name and Logo
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the Environmental Technology
Verification Program (ETV) by providing financial and/or technical assistance through competitive
cooperative agreements with nonprofit research institutes-called ETV verification organizations (VOs)-to
evaluate or "verify" the performance of environmental technologies. By verify, EPA means to establish or
prove the truth of the performance of a technology under specific, pre-determined criteria or protocols,
testing conditions, and data quality assurance procedures. Verification does not imply that technologies
will always perform as they performed under ETV testing, nor that they will perform in the same manner
under circumstances different from those tested. Most specifically, ETV does not certify, approve,
guarantee, or warrantee technologies or technology developers/vendors. Under ETV, EPA and its VOs
do not. (1) seek to determine regulatory compliance; (2) rank technologies or compare their performance;
(3) label or list technologies as acceptable or unacceptable; or (4) seek to determine "best available
technology" in any form. In general, ETV will avoid all potential pathways to picking "winners and
losers." The goal of ETV is to provide credible and objective performance data for commercial-ready
environmental technologies to aid in decision-making and speed implementation for the benefit of
purchasers, permitters, vendors and the public.
ETV is a voluntary program. Developers/vendors of environmental technologies and other actors
in the environmental marketplace are not required to participate in the program, nor are they required to
seek verification. ETV provides objective technology performance information to the environmental
marketplace. Vendors who believe that such information would be of value to their marketing activities
are encouraged to participate as appropriate. All verification reports and statements are made publically
available on the ETV Web site at www.epa.gov/etv.
To protect the integrity of the program, EPA and its ETV VOs oversee the proper use of the
"Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program" Name and Logo. The ETV Name and Logo
may be used by technology developers/vendors that have completed the ETV verification process to
advertise the availability of verified performance data. The Name and Logo may also be used for general
promotional or educational purposes by individual(s) or organizations with permission from EPA, e.g., in
print or electronic materials to provide general descriptions about ETV and to convey the benefits of
ETV. Under no circumstances shall the ETV Name or Logo be used in a manner that would imply
EPA endorsement, approval, certification, guarantee, or warrantee of the company, its products, its
technologies, or its services.
If EPA or its ETV VOs discover that ETV verification is being misrepresented, the verification
will be revoked if necessary. Organizations that misuse the ETV Name or Logo will first be contacted
directly to correct the error(s). Failure by a developer/vendor or their representative(s) to make the
corrections may result in revocation of the verification report and statement. ETV VOs may also send out
an announcement stating that the verification has been revoked. In addition, the Agency may refer the
matter to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation to determine whether the vendor has
violated laws or regulations relating to false or deceptive advertising.
Additional guidance is available in the U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV)
Guidelines for Proper Use of the ETV Name and Logo (EPA/600/R-08/029, March 2008,
www.epa.gov/etv/basic.html).
March 2008
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