Abstract |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program to facilitate the deployment of innovative environmental technologies through performance verification and dissemination of information. The goal of the ETV Program is to further environmental protection by accelerating the acceptance and use of improved and cost-effective technologies. ETV seeks to achieve this goal by providing high-quality, peer-reviewed data on technology performance to those involved in the design, distribution, financing, permitting, purchase, and use of environmental technologies. ETV works in partnership with recognized testing organizations; with stakeholder groups consisting of buyers, vendor organizations, and permitters; and with the full participation of individual technology developers. The program evaluates the performance of innovative technologies by developing test plans that are responsive to the needs of stakeholders, conducting field or laboratory tests (as appropriate), collecting and analyzing data, and preparing peerreviewed reports. All evaluations are conducted in accordance with rigorous quality assurance (QA) protocols to ensure that data of known and adequate quality are generated and that the results are defensible. The EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory and its verification organization partner, Battelle, operate the Advanced Monitoring Systems (AMS) Center under ETV. The AMS Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Soil Tilth Laboratory and Applied Measurement Science, recently evaluated the performance of the Horiba Instruments, Inc., APSA-360 ambient hydrogen sulfide (H(sub 2)S) analyzer in quantifying H(sub 2)S in ambient air at a swine finishing farm. |