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The Environment Agency’s (EA’s) MCERTS certification scheme is intended to help process operators bring environmental monitoring in line with existing EA emissions-monitoring requirements.

The scheme is designed to set a benchmark of performance that is expected by the EA from instrument manufacturers, laboratories and process operators.

Within the emissions-to-air scheme, set up in 1996, product certification for continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) and continuous ambient air-monitoring systems (CAMS) is well established.

There is currently a choice of more than 130 certified products and, according to Sira (the certification body that operates the MCERTS schemes on behalf of the EA), the CEMS MCERTS standard is now equivalent to the European standard EN 15267.

The personnel certification aspect of the emissions-to-air monitoring scheme is also very developed, with more than 500 people registered on the scheme as level-one or level-two stack testers, according to Sira.

“Both the operators and equipment producers can realise the financial benefits of MCERTS certification”