Interprovincial Working Group (IPWG)

Background

The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program was developed as part of the Strategy for the Canadian Environment Industry. A series of consultations across Canada with industry and other stakeholders provided invaluable direction to refine the Program concept. A key issue raised during these consultations was the need for formal recognition of the ETV Program by the provincial governments. Provincial buy-in can provide significant benefit to the provinces as well as technology vendors.

From the vendors perspective, the Program provides for a means to reduce the cost of repeating demonstration tests by providing mutual acceptance of technology evaluations completed in another province. For the Provinces, the Program can streamline the technology evaluation process and reduce the time required for provincial staff to evaluate and assess technology performance claims that are part of the approvals permitting process.

An Interprovincial Working Group on Environmental Technology Verification was established to initiate the provinces into the ETV Program. The goal of the group is to facilitate cooperation among provinces to test, demonstrate, evaluate and verify performance claims in a manner that allows for mutual acceptance by one province of results of demonstration, evaluation and verification produced in another province.

Goals

• Establish a network to share information on procedures for evaluating and verifying technology performance claims.
• Develop standard protocols for demonstrating, evaluating and verifying environmental technology performance that will enable one province to accept results from another province.
• Provide Peer review for ETV Program protocols.

Organization

The Interprovincial Working Group has been chaired by one of the provincial members of the Working Group, with secretariat support from Environment Canada or ETV Canada.

Current State

The IPWG remains active with the last meeting held in the summer of 2006.

Benefits

A key cornerstone accomplishment for the Working Group is that by working together the provinces can lower real and perceived barriers to the development and commercialization of new innovative environmental technologies that are efficient, economical and effective for addressing current environmental challenges. By providing clear requirements for accepting performance data and evaluations from beyond their borders, provinces can facilitate vendors to leverage demonstration opportunities for their technologies.