I. R&D GOALS

C. R&D GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

This Plan is undertaken with the belief that the results of the R&D can, and will be, implemented by the metal finishing industry as part of its efforts to reduce the risks to workers, communities, and the environment, and to become more economically competitive. These are the overarching goals of the Plan.

Given these goals the main objective of this Plan is to set priorities for near- and long-term environmental R&D for the metal finishing industry. The priorities were developed from a variety of sources, some of which were sponsored by the Research and Technology Work Group of the CSI Metal Finishing Subcommittee. As part of the CSI process, these priorities were determined by consensus of the stakeholders.

From initial meetings and data gathering from Federal agencies and private sector organizations, it was found that there has been considerable environmental R&D funded in recent years related to metal finishing processes. Many of the funders did not know what the other funders were supporting and some of the research was complementary, if not duplicative. As R&D budgets become more limited in both the public and private sectors, it is increasingly important that available funding be targeted on the industry's most important environmental problems and the research be coordinated. So sharing of information among funders and coordinating funding for metal finishing environmental R&D are the next objectives of this Plan.

Producing high-quality R&D, some of which is sponsored by the CSI Metal Finishing Subcommittee Research and Technology Work Group, is an essential objective. The recent Hard Chrome Plating Demonstration Project is an example of this type of research. An important aspect of this objective is that the R&D produce sufficient relevant information about efficacy and cost that metal finishers will be able to make informed decisions about how the results apply to their operations. Another aspect of this objective is that adequate mechanisms will be identified or created to ensure that metal finishers will have access to the results of this research. All parties understand that the industry plays key roles in developing and disseminating technology-related information to its companies. Vendors in particular conduct (usually proprietary) research and transfer technical information to their clients through their ongoing relationships.

Finally, an objective of this Plan is to provide a model for other CSI sector subcommittees to consider in developing environmental R&D plans for their sectors. Sectors with many small companies face similar needs in that the companies cannot themselves afford to do all the necessary research, to evaluate the results, and to get the results to all the companies in the sectors. In sectors that have mainly large companies, there may also be advantages in cooperating on pollution prevention and other environmental research as key common needs are identified and as R&D funds are cut back.