The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged by Congress with protecting the nations air, water, and land resources. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support and nurture life. To meet this mandate, the EPAs Office of Research and Development provides data and science support that can be used to solve environmental problems and to build the scientific knowledge base needed to manage our ecological resources wisely, to understand how pollutants affect our health, and to prevent or reduce environmental risks. The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program has been established by the EPA to verify the performance characteristics of innovative environmental technology across all media and to report this objective information to permitters, buyers, and users of the technology, thus substantially accelerating the entrance of new environmental technologies into the marketplace. Verification organizations oversee and report verification activities based on testing and quality assurance protocols developed with input from major stakeholders and customer groups associated with the technology area. Effective verifications of monitoring technologies are needed to assess environmental quality and to supply cost and performance data to select the most appropriate technology for that assessment. Under a cooperative agreement, Battelle has received EPA funding to plan, coordinate, and conduct such verification tests for 'Advanced Monitoring Systems for Air, Water, and Soil' and report the results to the community at large. 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 peer-reviewed 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 EPAs National Exposure Research Laboratory and its verification organization partner, Battelle, operate the Advanced Monitoring Systems (AMS) Center under ETV. The AMS Center recently evaluated the performance of the following seven toxicity technologies: Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (RAPIDTOXKIT); Abraxis (AbraTox Kit); Aqua Survey, Inc. (Chem-IQ Tox(Trademark) Test Kit); CheckLight Ltd. (ToxScreen-II Test Kit); Envrionmental Bio-Detection Products Inc. (Toxi-Chromotest); Lab-Bell Inc. (LuminoTox PECs Test Kit); and Lab-Bell Inc. (LuminoTox SAPS Test Kit).