SEPA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711

Research and Development

EPA/600/S9-90/017 July 1990

Project Summary

Control Technology Center,
1989, A Year of Growth and a
Promising Future

Charles H. Darvin

The full report documents the
activity of EPA’s Control Technology
Center (CTC) between October 1988
and September 1989. It discusses the
program’s history, its growth during
fiscal year 1989 (FY89), and its plans
for the future.

This Project Summary was
developed by EPA’s Air and Energy
Engineering Research Laboratory,
Research Triangle Park, NC, to
announce key findings of the research
project that is fully documented in a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).

Introduction

In June 1985, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) announced a
strategy to reduce public exposure to
toxic air pollutants in the ambient air. The
strategy called for state and local
authorities to take on additional
regulatory roles, with EPA providing
technical and financial assistance to their
efforts. As a_result_of this shift in
responsibility, EPA’s Office of Research
and Development (ORD), Office of Air
Quality. Planning and Standards
(OAQPS), and Center for Environmental
Research Information (CERI) developed
and implemented the Control Technology
Center ((CTC). The CTC is an innovative
technical assistance program for state
and local air pollution agencies and
EPA’s Regional Offices. The program
includes not only expertise on air toxics
but also assistance in evaluating
emission sources and in control
technology assessments associated with
criteria pollutants, including particulate

matter, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen,
carbon monoxide, lead, PM10, and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Even
though the CTC is not EPA's only
technical assistance effort for state and
local agencies, it is unique in its structure
which is described in the report. The
CTC is designed to be flexible so that it
can accommodate identified needs as
they arise and respond quickly to those
needs and requests for assistance.

CTC Program

The services provided by the CTC are
of three types: telephone HOTLINE calls,
direct engineering assistance, and
technical guidance. The CTC HOTLINE is
a telephone number that state and local
agencies can call for easy access to EPA
personnel who can provide prompt
assistance in a variety of ways including
consultations, references to pertinent
literature, and access to EPA technical
data and analyses. Direct engineering
assistance projects are short term
(typically 3 months or less), which
provide technical assistance to individual
State or local agencies without regard to
the projects’ national utility. They are
specific in nature and may not be
applicable to problems in other locations.
Technical guidance projects are long-
term (up to a year), broad in scope, and
with national applications and impacts.

In FY89 the CTC experienced
significant growth. It received over 800
calls for assistance representing a 50%
increase in requests over FY88. Over
1000 requests for documents were filled.
To further expand the scope of the CTC,
outreach activities were also completed



at three EPA regional offices and at least activities for the year. This report the program, its growth during fiscal year

two state agencies. . documents the activity of the CTC 1989 (FY89), and its plans for the future.
The CTC issues a report at the end of between October 1988 and September

each fiscal year to discuss the CTC’s 1989. The report discusses the history of

The EPA author, Charles Darvin (also the EPA Project Officer, see below), is with
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

The complete report, entitled “Control Technology Center, 1989, A Year of Growth
and a Promising Future," (Order No. PB90 219 429/AS; Cost: $15.00, subject to
change) will be available only from:

National Technical information Service
§285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer'can be contacted) ats = rn mn
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

United States Center for Environmental Research
Environmental Protection Information
Agency Cincinnati OH 45268

Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

EPA/600/S9-90/017