The paper discusses flow management as part of a joint EPA/U.S. Air Force program on emissions from paint spray booths. The goal of the program is to identify and develop efficient and economical emissions control concepts for this source. Flow management is one potential solution that reduces the volume of gases that must be processed in a control system. Although it will not itself control pollution, it can influence the economic and technical viability of subsequent control systems. The test program discussed here was designed to characterize the pollutants both within and exiting a typical back-draw booth for which emissions control and flow management strategies are being developed. Study results indicate that both particulate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) fall to the lower level of the booth or, at most, stratify at the level at which they were generated. Results indicate that the concentration at the lower level of the booth near the exhaust was from 5 to 25 times greater than that at the upper level. The importance of these findings is that it might be possible to partition a booth's air flow into two zones, one lean and the other concentrated. The enriched lower zone could then be directed to a proportionately smaller VOC control system, of lower capital and operating costs.