WEF Begins Stormwater Product and Practice Testing Project

WEF STEPPThe Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) is leading a new project to develop a framework for the formation of a national testing and evaluation program in the stormwater sector. The project, funded through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Infrastructure Grant administered by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF; Alexandria, Va.), is based on WEF’s National Stormwater Testing and Evaluation for Products and Practices (STEPP) initiative. The project builds on the insights and recommendations from a white paper on the feasibility of a national testing program that WEF released in February 2014.

The STEPP initiative will include gathering information through surveys, interviews, and online searches related to the potential users of a national testing and verification program for stormwater products and practices. Potential users include stormwater program managers for regulated entities and municipalities (MS4s), as well as regulators and administrators of testing and verification programs at the state level. These entities expend significant resources to administer product approval programs. A national program could reduce the burden on state and local governments and open markets to stormwater product manufacturers leading to greater competition, an increase of innovation in the sector, and more cost-effective solutions for stormwater management.

The project recommendations will focus on the architecture, protocol development, a sustainable business framework, and leadership organization(s) of a national program.

For more information, contact Rebecca Arvin-Colon at rarvin-colon@wef.org.

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