Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 294

Verification reports and statements are published on the ETV website. The outcomes of
the system are characteristics measured according to standardized tests and the buyer
can use these characteristics to compare different technologies.
Funding : Verification costs up to now have mainly been covered by government
funds. However, the current program requires vendors to support the full costs (US
EPA ETV, 2008).
7.1.2 ETV in Canada
Objectives : ETV Canada has the objective to offer a reliable assessment process for ver-
ifying the environmental performance claims associated with projects and programs,
as well as technologies and technological processes.
Means : Canada's ETV Program is managed by ETV Canada, an independent
verification organization under a license agreement with Environment Canada. The
Canadian system allows for verification based upon peer-reviewed third-party test data
against vendor-defined performance claims. The ETV includes a three-part strategy:
verification, benchmarking and harmonization. During verification, the data furnished
by the vendor are verified to check that they match the performance claim. The
performance of the technology itself is not verified by the system; the tests are car-
ried out beforehand by the vendor. This system is relatively fast and cheap mainly
because it does not develop test protocols. In addition, benchmarking ensures that
technology performance is relevant to the marketplace—and harmonization establishes
relationships with other verification organizations around the globe.
Funding : Verification fees are paid by the applicant company to ETV Canada.
The cost of testing (to produce the reliable data required) is usually paid directly to the
testing organization and analytical laboratory by the vendor (ETV Canada, 2007).
7.2 EU policy: ETAP
The main policy of the European Commission to stimulate the development and uptake
of environmental technology is the European ETAP. ETAP complements the Envi-
ronment Directorate-General's regulatory approaches and directly addresses the three
dimensions of the Lisbon strategy: growth, jobs and the environment.
7.2.1 About ETAP
The ETAP (ETAP, 2004) was adapted in 2004 as a co-operative initiative between the
European Commission, Member States and industry.
ETAP has the objective to overcome the barriers that hinder the development of
environmental technologies through a series of actions and to promote eco-innovation
and the take-up of environmental technologies. ETAP's priority actions focus on
encouraging inventions from the research laboratories to markets, improving market
conditions, particularly by providing positive incentives such as supportive regulatory
framework and access to finance, acting globally with actions supporting developing
countries and promoting foreign investment. The key activities supporting the prior-
ity actions include dissemination of the best environmental technologies and activities
across Europe and world-wide, establishment of performance targets in cooperation