ORGANIC COATINGS AND COATING EQUIPMENT VERIFICATION PROGRAM -- EPOXY POWDER COATINGS Contact Point, Brian Schweitzer, (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. Responses are due 1997-07-31. Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is in the process of 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, 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 one of the initial cycles of the verification program. This cycle will focus on epoxy powder coatings for organic surface coating operations. CTC is operating this program under the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE) Program, Contract Number DAAA21-93-C-0046. Background -- The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program is interested in verifying epoxy powder coatings which are used for general purposes. The powder coatings verified must be thermosetting, non-hybrid epoxies for metal substrates. No textured or special effects powder coatings will be accepted. One color of coating, provider's choice, per formulation can be considered for evaluation. Through this request, the ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program is only seeking information on powder coatings satisfying these requirements. The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program is primarily interested in coatings that are environmentally safe (compared to conventional coatings) and cost-effective for users. Selection Criteria -- The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program requires that potential coatings submitted for verification meet the above focus area description, have obvious pollution prevention qualities as a central focus, and be commercial ready, meaning that they have documented field experience and need performance verification for acceptance by industry and regulators. The verification process applies only to those coatings that meet these criteria. Selecting Coatings for Verification -- Each of the responses will be reviewed to determine if the submission meets the above criteria. The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program staff will customize test protocols for verification testing of technologies for a particular focus area. In response to this announcement, the technology providers will submit a simple response to the Contact Point. The response will be a written letter, expressing interest in participation, which includes a brief description of their coating's technical capabilities, environmental claims, previous field experience, and operation cost data. For verification testing, we 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. Following this announcement, a date for a vendor meeting (at CTC) will be announced to respondents. Participation at the meeting is not required; non-participants will be provided with information from the meeting. The meeting will give technology providers an opportunity to find out more details of the upcoming verification (including the fee required to participate), review the test protocol, and ask questions. What's Involved in a Verification? A focus area is chosen. A request for technologies is issued and the responses are reviewed. The protocol is finalized according to the particular focus area chosen and technology provider input. The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program independently verifies the technology performance (technology providers may participate as observers). Performance parameters evaluated will focus on environmental and quality benefits reflective of the powder coating, including ~impact resistance, adhesion, film thickness, gloss, salt spray resistance, and volatile content, for example. Finally, a verification report is prepared for the EPA and verification statements are issued by the EPA. Technology providers will have the opportunity to review the verification data after QA approval. Release of the verification statement is at the technology provider's option. Funding -- The ultimate goal of the ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program is to become self-supporting. To help establish the ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program, a limited number of verifications will be performed where the cost is shared by the ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 the initial verifications 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 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 (provided to technology providers prior to the meeting); sending the technology to CTC when required for testing; and assisting with set-up of equipment (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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 verification report has been approved. It will take about four months from the date of this announcement to complete the process. At this time, the process will repeat itself, this time for another organic surface coating or coating technology area. Why Should You Participate? The ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program may alleviate the need of doing product-specific verifications at the direction of each potential user or customer. Finally, the ETV Coatings and Coating Equipment Program Stakeholder Group includes representation from Federal and State regulatory agencies who 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 Coatings and Coating Equipment Program 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 the vendor/technology provider; Name of the technology or technologies that the provider would want to include in the verification process; Intended use/application; Existing performance data; Spec Sheets; Examples of previous field experience; Environmental advantages (pollution prevention features) and cost effectiveness of the method versus conventional method(s); Amount of training required by operator; Standard operating procedure(s) or method for the generation of data of known quality; Pertinent reference in the literature or other documentation. Respondents will receive an information package in return, which includes more details about this program and the verification process, a schedule of verification activities, and agreement(s) necessary for participation.

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