ORGANIC COATINGS AND COATING EQUIPMENT VERIFICATION PROGRAM -- INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES Date Posted: 1998-05-26, Responses Due: 1998-06-30. -- Contact Point, Vicki Miller, (814) 269-2782, Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), 1450 Scalp Avenue, Johnstown, PA 15904. Alternate Contact Point, Michael Kosusko, (919) 541-2734, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), MD-61, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. CTC is currently identifying organic coatings and coating technologies for a series of verification studies under the EPA's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program. The goal of the ETV Pilot Program at CTC, hereafter referred to as the ETV Coatings and Coatings Equipment Program (ETV CCEP), is to speed adoption and promote routine use of environmentally acceptable organic surface coatings and technologies. These technologies have the potential to reduce toxic emissions into the atmosphere and provide economic and performance benefits. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SEEKS POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR A CYCLE OF THE VERIFICATION PROGRAM FOCUSING ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ORGANIC SURFACE COATIN~G OPERATIONS. CTC is operating the ETV CCEP under the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE) program, Contract Number DAAA21-93-C-0046. BACKGROUND -- The ETV CCEP was established to identify, evaluate, demonstrate, verify, and transfer information about innovative and/or alternative coatings and coating technologies to users and regulators. This program fulfills the need for independent evaluation of technology performance. The ETV CCEP brings together the interests of potential end users of these technologies and Federal and State regulators to facilitate independent verification of technology performance. Customers, investors, and regulators alike will judge a technology on its merits, backed by quality data. The public/private partnership encourages development of new technology and develops~ markets for existing technologies. Focus areas for verification testing are chosen according to product need, usage volume, emissions reduction potential, and stakeholder group input. ~FOCUS -- At the present time, the ETV CCEP is interested in verifying Innovative Coating and Coating Equipment technologies. Technologies submitted under this focus area must be relatively new (leading edge) and unique within the coatings industry. The technology must be environmentally beneficial compared to the established technology it may replace. It must be commercially ready for its target market sector, but has not yet achieved its full potential market share. SELECTION CRITERIA -- The ETV CCEP requires that potential technologies submitted for verification satisfy certain selection criteria. Products submitted for verification must meet the above focus area description, have obvious pollution prevention qualities that can be tested and presented as valuable Verification Factors for the end user, and be commercial ready, meaning that it is beyond the conceptual stage and is ready for introduction into use within the manufacturing engineering community. The concept of market-ready will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and will be dependent on availability for the target user and volume of delivery required by the user. The verification process applies only to those technologies that meet the~se c~riteria. SELECTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR VERIFICATION -- Each of the responses will be reviewed to determine if the submission meets the above criteria. Candidates for verification testing will be prioritized by the ETV CCEP and the stakeholder group and selected based on several factors, including: highest pollution prevention potential, multi-media environmental impact, lowest economic risks for implementation, realistic potential to meet performance requirements, practicality of implementation, and whether verification is a true implementation obstacle. Meetings with potential technology providers are scheduled to begin in July of 1998. The meetings ensure understanding of program objectives and technology provider roles and will determine the verification testing scope, including: environmental verification factors, performance and quality verification factors required for user implementation decisions, data valuable to technology providers to promote products, and data valuable to end users of the product. For verification testing, the ETV CCEP will include all interested technology providers whose product meets the defined requirements and who are willing to provide the fee determined after all responses have been received. What's Involved in Verification? A focus area is chosen. A request for technologies is issued and the responses are reviewed. A testing protocol is finalized according to the particular focus area chosen and technology provider input. The ETV CCEP independently verifies the technology performance (technology providers may participate as observers). Performance parameters evaluated will focus on environmental and quality benefits reflective of the technology. Finally, a verification report is prepared for the EPA and verification statements are issued by the EPA. Release of the verification statement is at the technology provider's option. FUNDING -- The ultimate coal of the ETV CCEP is to become self-supporting. To help establish ~the ETV CCEP, a limited number of verifications will be performed where the cost is shared by the ETV CCEP and the technology provider. However, limited funds are available to support verification testing. Therefore, the technology provider will be asked to contribute funds for completion of the verification testing. The minimum technology provider contribution for verification will be determined by the amount of funds available to support testing, the cost to perform the testing per product, and the number of technology providers participating. What's Involved in Participation? The technology provider is expected to be able to contribute time, materials, and funds to the verification. Specifically, the technology provider should plan to cover the costs and/or labor for the following: attending a "vendor's briefing" to obtain site, program, and fee information; reviewing and commenting on the test protocol prior to testing; sending the technology to CTC when required for testing; and assisting with set-up of the technology (if necessary) for verification testing. Verification testing will be performed by CTC staff at CTC's facilities unless CTC does not have the existing capabilities to do so. In this case, a sub-contractor's site will be used. The ETV CCEP is responsible for: preparing a verification plan; conducting the verification testing; evaluating and verifying the data; preparing a verification report for the EPA; and disseminating information to users, regulators, and the public. The verification process is considered complete when the report and Verification Statement have been approved. Why Should You Participate? The ETV CCEP will prepare and distribute a statement, under EPA signature, which verifies that the technology met its performance goals as part of the verification report. You will be working with CTC and EPA Regional and Laboratory staff in all aspects of the verification. Your staff may gain valuable insights into the needs of your customer. The ETV CCEP has an aggressive information distribution program and the results of the verification will be distributed to all applicable user groups and regulators to increase their awareness of the technology (this assures the maximum exposure and visibility of the results of the verification). Participation will help to maximize your marketing resources; a verification conducted under the auspices of the ETV CCEP may alleviate the need of doing product-specific verifications at the direction of each potential user or customer. Finally, the ETV CCEP Stakeholder Group includes representation from Federal and State regulatory agencies that will provide input on the development of the evaluation. Naturally, this will enhance the acceptance of the verified technology. RESPONSE FORMAT -- A written informational response, not a proposal, is requested. This request for information is designed only to determine those technologies that may be candidates for verification. As appropriate, confidential or proprietary information should be so indicated on the submission. It is recommended that this type of information be kept to a minimum. The ETV CCEP requests that responses consist of a letter indicating interest in participation, which includes the following information (where applicable): name(s), address, phone and fax numbers, and electronic mail of th~e vendor/technology provider and information on the technology or technologies that the provider would want to include in the verification process.

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