From Tech Trends June 1996

RCI To Expedite Technologies to Market

By Stanley Chanesman, U.S. Dept. of Commerce

The Rapid Commercialization Project (RCI) is an innovative partnership of Federal interagency, interstate government and industry, the primary role of which is to accelerate commercialization of environmental technologies. Although the goal of easing the commercialization path of technology is the most significant aspect of the RCI, another innovation lies in the initiation of collaborative strategies to unite private sector technology developers, States, Federal agencies and regulatory bodies at national, State and local levels to identify and work through the environmental technology commercialization barriers under the aegis of the RCI. Federal agencies include the Departments of Commerce (DOC), Defense (DoD) and Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); participating States and State organizations include The State of California Environmental Protection Agency, Southern States Energy Board and the Western Governors Association.

The RCI currently addresses three key barriers to commercialization: assistance in finding appropriate field sites for demonstrating/testing near-commercial environmental technologies; assistance in verifying the performance and cost of performance of technologies; and assistance in facilitating and expediting the issuance of permits. RCI offers services appropriate to addressing each barrier. From the services available, the technology developer selects the services needed for the project, thereby using the developer's best assessment as to what barrier(s) the technology faces.

Cooperation between states, regulatory agencies and technology developers is defined into the program; it is the modus operandi of the RCI. During technology demonstrations, for example, multi-state participation on project teams will enable mutual sharing of technology performance data across states. States that do not have a technology being demonstrated or verified within their boundaries will also be part of RCI project teams to mutually share data and to serve as impartial monitors of procedures and results. RCI project teams will consist of representatives from all members of the technology and regulatory communities to facilitate dialogue about mutual problems and solutions.

States where verification tests are to be performed will facilitate the timely issuance of permits, where necessary, for technology testing and demonstration. In an innovative paradigm for state cooperation, the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Cooperation (ITRC) Working Group has sponsored a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) that allows four States (California, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey) to mutually accept support data and the results of demonstrations and verifications of environmental technologies. RCI will incorporate this MOU into RCI activities, so that environmental technology developers will be able to use data collected in an RCI project in MOU States to foster evaluation and promotion of technologies in sister States. This approach exemplifies the RCI program's willingness to use fresh approaches to accomplish its barrier reduction goals.

Most important, it is the responsibility of the Federal agencies participating in RCI to provide an interagency forum to implement RCI and to monitor project progress and program success. Federal agencies will collect "lessons learned" so that improved policies that foster industrial, State and federal cooperation and collaboration may be applied to minimize barriers to technology commercialization. The RCI process will give the technology an initial" stamp of approval" which will increase technology credibility and marketability.

Industry, represented by the private sector technology developer, has the responsibility to identify concerns that address barriers to commercialization. Industry is invited to propose innovative approaches to mitigate these barriers and to create new ways to measure the success of these approaches.

A fundamental premise underlying RCI is that projects selected would represent the best available developed technology from private sector technology developers. To make this determination, a four-step merit review process using equivalent technical and business factors was done by peer reviewers from within and outside the Federal government. As a result of a solicitation and review process, 10 out of a total of 36 proposals were chosen to participate in the first RCI phase. The companies will enter cooperative partnership agreements with the RCI Federal and State participants for the demonstration of the technologies. The technologies and their developers are:

Verification of Oxyozone Biosolids Treatment System (Total Municipal Solids Recovery). A technology for reducing potential human pathogens in municipal wastewater biosolids and other organic waste treams based on the disinfecting properties of ozone.

LASAGNA™ Integrated In-situ Remediation Technology (Monsanto Company). A comprehensive in-situ suite of technologies integrated to remove various contaminants from low-permeability soils. The process creates alternate layers of sorption and degradation zones through the introduction of sorbents, catalytic agents, microbes, oxidants and buffers.

Verification and Certification of the MAG-SEP Technology [Selective Environmental Technologies, Inc. (SELENTEC)]. A magnetic separations technology for ground water treatment using specially designed particles (polymer coated magnetite) to selectively adsorb contaminant metals.

Terra-Kleen Solvent Extraction Technology (Terra-Kleen Response Group, Inc.). A solvent extraction technology which uses non-toxic solvents to mobilize hazardous soil contaminants and then collects those contaminants for destruction off-site in an EPA-approved facility.

Solvated Electron Chemistry Remediation and Restoration (Commodore Environmental Services). Agent 313 is a solvated electron chemistry materials process used to destroy hazardous hydrocarbon contamination in soils.

Hand-Held Instruments for Measuring Low Levels of Trihalomethanes (ORS Environmental Systems). Hand-held instrument uses innovative sensor technology for detecting and measuring total trihalomethanes in water to parts per billion (ppb) levels. Instrument for Measuring Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination (ORS Environmental Systems). Hand-held instruments using innovative sensor technologies for detecting and measuring trichloroethylene and volatile organic compounds in aqueous solutions to ppb levels.

Portable Spectrometer for Analysis of Soil and Water Contamination with Hanby Text Kits (Hanby Environmental Laboratory Procedures, Inc.). A field kit technology (previously available and successful commercially without the spectrometer) to conduct quantitative soil and water tests employing comparison of the sample results visually with a photographic standard. Now with the spectrometer it will interpret results directly. The objective is to prove the savings in analytical costs, labor, time and accuracy.

Waste Inspection Tomography/Active Passive Neutron Examination and Assay (Bio-Imaging Research, Inc.). Consists of digital waste inspection tomography and active passive neutron examination and assay for nondestructive and non invasive analysis of sealed radioactive containers.

Multi-Sampling Lysimeter/Cone Penetrometer (Bladon International, Inc.). A technology that integrates a multi-sampling lysimeter with a cone penetrometer to sample moisture and contaminants in the vadose zone before they reach the water table without drilling a well. The objective is to deploy to depths of 50 to 100 feet, retrieve soil pore liquid from the vadose zone and transport the liquid samples to the surface for performance verification.

An innovative "private electronic network" will enable project teams to exchange documentation and data to be used as information to facilitate the work of all teams. Results will be available on some of the projects within a few months. The longest projects will take about 18 months. The public can obtain updated information on the projects and the RCI from the RCI Web at: http://rci.gnet.org; so, watch that space for more information.