About the ETC

Penn State Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection partnered in construction of an addition to the Science and Technology Building on campus to create a state-of-the-art Environmental Training Center. This training center has various labs and offices for faculty and staff, but specific to the training center are multimedia classrooms, pilot labs, distance education facilities, and offices for use by trainers.

The main emphasis is on training public water supply operators. The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act required U.S. EPA to set guidelines for operator training and certification. The Pennsylvania Legislature passed The Water and Wastewater System Operator's Certification Act which became law on February 21, 2002. The PA DEP and State Board of Certification of Water and Wastewater System Operators are working on new regulations which will include continuing education for both water supply and wastewater operators. This will require extensive training efforts throughout the state. More information on continuing education requirements is available on the PA DEP Web site, which is linked through the Penn State Harrisburg Environmental Training Center (ETC) Web site.

This partnership provides facilities for PA DEP to offer training for operator continuing education and certification throughout the state. The Center is a preapproved sponsor. The Pennsylvania State University is a geographically diverse organization which includes nearly 30 campuses and centers throughout the Commonwealth. Most of the state's residents are within a short distance of a center or campus.