About Innovation at EPA

Adapting to the Problems of Tomorrow: How EPA Shapes Scientific Innovation 

Innovation is defined by EPA as “the development and/or application of new and potentially transformative science or technology that informs decision-making and improves the capacity to protect human health and the environment.” As new environmental and human health challenges have emerged, out-of-the-box and innovative solutions have become increasingly necessary. Since its establishment in 1970, EPA has been a hub for this sort of innovation, with its researchers and scientists producing original work to help support EPA’s goals of clean water, land, and air. Notably, EPA has fostered a culture of innovation by supporting breakthrough technologies including those that treat chemicals in the environment, reduce tire pollutants in water, and create sustainable drinking water treatment systems.

Innovation Programs at EPA

EPA has a variety of programs designed to spur innovation. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program invests in small businesses to develop and commercialize innovative technologies that address the agency's mission. The Challenges & Prizes Program harnesses the ingenuity of the public through competitions that crowdsource innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The Pathfinder Innovation Project (PIP) program is an internal competition open to EPA researchers that provides seed funding and research time to pursue high-risk, high-reward research ideas. EPA also has a Federal Technology Transfer Act program that conducts collaborative research with external partners, protects intellectual property, and licenses EPA’s technologies.

A wide variety of innovative solutions and products have been developed through these programs. SBIR, for example, has supported small American businesses with over 1700 awards to more than 330 industry-sponsored projects in the development of groundbreaking technologies in 49 of 50 US States. Some noteworthy technologies developed through the EPA SBIR program include the detection and treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment. PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in a wide range of products and applications, such as non-stick coatings, firefighting foams, and semiconductor manufacturing. Recently, there has been a significant shift away from PFAS use, in addition to increased efforts to develop effective PFAS treatment and destruction technologies. These efforts aim to accelerate the elimination of PFAS and reduce their long-term environmental impact.

Aquagga, a Washington based SBIR small business, received the 2024 Environmental Excellence Business Innovation Award and the Clean Tech Alliance 2024 Emerging Company Award from Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Communities for a Healthy Bay, and the Port of Tacoma, for a project focused on hydrothermal alkaline treatment of PFAS contaminated water and groundwater. Similarly, Cyclopure Inc., another SBIR small business based in Chicago, developed two PFAS removal products using the company’s DEXSORB adsorbent to remove PFAS to a non-detect level. Nutter & Associates, a Georgia based company and EPA SBIR recipient, received a 2024 funded U.S. Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) award, to further support their technology focused on phytoextraction and phytoremediation of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a specific type of PFAS that has been widely used in industrial and consumer products. Some other examples of successful EPA SBIR projects related to PFAS detection and remediation can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/sbir/test-and-treat-pfas-epa-sbir-technologies.

EPA’s Challenge & Prizes Program has also resulted in unique solutions for removal of PFAS through the Innovative Ways to Destroy PFAS Challenge. This challenge asked participants to discover new technologies and approaches that have the potential to remove at least 99% of PFAS in unused firefighting suppressant or aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), without creating harmful byproducts. Dr. Brian Pinkard of Aquagga, won the first-place prize award for a hydrothermal processing concept for the on-site disposal of PFAS-contaminated waste (developed prior to Aquagga’s SBIR-related conceptual applications and work). This hydrothermal processing leverages the unique properties of high-temperature and high-pressure water to destroy PFAS compounds and minimize harmful byproducts and is promising for potential use in removing PFAS from AFFF.

Looking towards the Future
While PFAS is a top priority for innovative research at EPA, the agency addresses a wide variety of issues through its innovative programs. For example, through the PIP program, EPA empowers its scientists to explore the forefront of environmental science, aiming to transform innovations in science and technology into effective environmental protection solutions for the American public. EPA researchers are continuing innovative work on clean water through the Developing Road Dust Reference Materials project, which addresses tire wear, a source of water pollution, and the lack of an in-matrix reference materials (RM) for road dust. RM are used to accurately quantitate 6-ppd quinone (6ppd-q), microplastics in tire particles, and metals, including platinum group elements (PGEs), all of which can be a source tracer for water pollution from tire wear. 6ppd-q is created when 6ppd, a chemical added to tires to prevent their degradation, is exposed to ozone. Once 6ppd-q is created, stormwater from hard surfaces like parking lots and streets can wash these toxic particles into streams and other water bodies, leaving aquatic organisms more vulnerable, such as causing mass die-offs of commercial and game fish such as Coho salmon. The goal of the project is to develop a large quantity of homogeneous in-house RM that can used to validate for 6ppd-q, relevant microplastics and metals in road dust and sediments, helping develop effective best management practices (BMPs) to control pollution and risks associated with roadway pollutants.

Dr. Victoria Nicole Deycard using XRF to quantitate metals in the field to collect road dust for Reference Material

This holistic innovation ecosystem also involves collaborating with a wide variety of partners, including international research groups. Through the FTTA program, EPA recently collaborated with Walkerton Clean Water Centre (WCWC) in Ontario, Canada, to pilot a patented EPA technology to treat drinking water. Groundwater in the Ontario, Canada, area has naturally occurring ammonia that leads to nitrification of distribution systems that treat and carry water back to the consumer. Nitrification causes water quality issues, such as potential corrosion problems, oxidant demand, taste and odor complaints, and elevated nitrite levels. To combat high source water ammonia, EPA researchers patented a process (U.S. Patent No. 8029674, Lytle, 2013) and a Portable Evaluation Pilot Skid (PEPS) (U. S. Patent No. 9914654, Williams, 2018) to oxidize ammonia. Through a Materials Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (M-CRADA), EPA experts delivered their patented portable evaluation pilot skid to the WCWC in Ontario in early 2024. EPA staff worked with local township and WCWC staff to install the system, provide training on daily operations and sample collection, and to continue to offer support under this agreement. The expectation for the project is that it will result in a sustainable treatment option for the Township of Hamilton that will reduce chemical use and minimize drinking water distribution systems maintenance. The project helps the Township to test this innovative, cost-effective treatment process, and provides EPA with valuable, real-world data on the technology’s functionality.

These are just a few of the many examples of innovative work being done across the agency, resulting in benefits for communities, businesses and Americans across the nation. If you want to learn more about Innovation at EPA, visit EPA’s Innovation website. These EPA Innovation programs, among other research and agency activities promoting innovation, have led to a holistic innovation ecosystem where science, technology, research, and collaboration with partners are all part of fostering a culture that produces transformative solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges.