Addressing Environmental Challenges Through Collaboration

As research on emerging environmental contaminants accelerates, both regulators and industry need clear guidance on exposure limits, mitigation and testing. For three decades, the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) has brought state and federal regulators, technology developers, industry and academia together to solve shared environmental problems and move sound science into regulatory practice. Their work helps states approach shared challenges with a common technical foundation and gives industry and consultants a clearer path to solutions.

Battelle has been part of that effort for 18 years, with Battelle solvers serving on ITRC project teams as authors, trainers and sub-team leaders. Among them is Shalene Thomas, Battelle's Emerging Contaminants Program Manager, who was recently named ITRC's IAP Member of the Year.

ITRC: Bridging Science and Practice

Scientific evidence about human health and environmental impacts of emerging contaminants found in soil, water and biological tissue has placed a growing list of common chemicals in the public eye, in turn putting pressure on federal and state regulators. At the same time, the best practices for assessing, interpreting and addressing these contaminants are still evolving, often faster than any single organization can independently track and validate. In the meantime, companies, industry groups and the public are left waiting for answers.

The pace of scientific change puts both industry and government in a bind. Companies need clear guidance to proactively de-risk their products and portfolios. States need a sound technical basis to set standards, evaluate new technologies and develop enforcement approaches.

ITRC exists to bridge that gap. It brings regulators, industry and academia together to develop guidance and tools that help states evaluate contaminants, review emerging environmental technologies and establish technical content using a shared scientific foundation. When regulators can approach common problems with consistent approaches, the whole field benefits: companies get clearer expectations to plan against, and promising technologies get a smoother path from proven science to real-world use.

Created in 1995, ITRC is a program of the Environmental Research Institute of the States (ERIS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS). It is supported by the U.S. Department of War (DoW), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state contributions and Industry Affiliates Program members.

The work itself is carried out by volunteer project teams drawn from state agencies, federal partners, industry and academia. Today, ITRC includes members from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with more than 100 Industry Affiliates Program member organizations and 600+ participating professionals.

That collaborative perspective increasingly reaches beyond U.S. borders. Through engagement with international organizations such as REMTEC Europe and the Australasian Land & Groundwater Association (ALGA), ITRC facilitates cross-organizational discussions that bring a global perspective to shared environmental challenges.

Building a Shared Foundation for Environmental Policy

For Battelle and its fellow IAP members, the value of participation runs both ways. Working alongside state and federal partners, IAP members bring technical depth that helps ITRC teams translate emerging science into guidance that holds up under regulatory scrutiny. In return, those members gain an early, shared understanding of where the science and the regulations are heading. These are insights that benefit the entire field, not just any one company.

Battelle has been involved with ITRC as an Industry Affiliates Program member for 18 years. Battelle's participation in ITRC reflects our broader mission: to advance science and technology for society's benefit. That’s why we invest in work whose value is shared. Over the last thirty-five years, we have convened some of the largest technical gatherings in the environmental field, including the Chlorinated Conference, Bioremediation (now BLOOM) and Sediments Conference. These long-running conferences bring together scientists, engineers and regulators from around the world to share research and advance solutions on environmental and emerging contaminants like PFAS.

Over the years, many of our past and current solvers—including current members Shalene Thomas, Jana Heisler White, Cameron Orth, Deepti Krishnan-Nair and Jon Petali—have served as sub-team leaders, authors, trainers and in outreach roles across several ITRC project teams, on topics spanning PFAS, chemicals of emerging concern, microplastics, sustainable waste, green and sustainable chemistry, and 6PPD (a contaminant originating from tires).

Each team brings together state regulators, federal partners, academics and private-sector experts, often including direct competitors, to build consensus around a specific environmental challenge. Members contribute their best technical thinking toward guidance that carries no company's logo and reflects agreement across sectors rather than any one organization's position.

The impact of the ITRC project teams is practical and far-reaching. ITRC's guidance gives regulators across different states a common technical reference, so a developer or consultant isn't starting from scratch or facing a contradictory answer each time they cross a state line. Its PFAS guidance, for example, has become a go-to resource for environmental professionals not just in the U.S. but internationally.

To date, ITRC project teams have published more than 150 guidance documents and trained more than 200,000 participants through online and in-person sessions, many delivered in partnership with EPA's CLU-IN platform. Behind every one of those documents is a diverse group of experts from across sectors choosing to contribute their time and knowledge to work that benefits the whole field.

A Recognition of Commitment

That kind of sustained, collaborative contribution is exactly what ITRC recognizes through its annual Industry Affiliates Program awards. This year, that recognition went to Battelle's Shalene Thomas.

Thomas has been involved with ITRC for more than a decade, helping shape some of the organization's most consequential work. She co-authored the original PFAS proposal in 2016 and later helped author the proposal for the Green and Sustainable Chemistry team. Across her time with ITRC, she has served as a sub-team leader, author and trainer, and has represented the organization in outreach across Canada, Australia and Europe.

"I am truly honored to be given this award,” Shalene says. “ITRC's organizational success is entirely based on the tireless commitment of its volunteer members. I am only one of many who are deserving of this recognition. For the last decade, ITRC has been a place for personal and professional growth, lasting friendships and the development of some superior work products at the same time. I highly recommend getting involved—you will not regret it."

ITRC’s guidance holds up because it represents a shared consensus across stakeholder groups grounded in scientific excellence. That's how a field keeps pace with science moving faster than any one organization can track, and it's why Battelle and our solvers keep showing up to do the work.