The Casting Emission Reduction Program (CERP) began from a meeting in August 1993 where representatives from the American Foundry Society, The Casting Industry Supplier Association, the auto companies and the U.S. government looked to the future and sought ways to prepare an entire industry for increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

The policy-makers who initiated the program foresaw the critical need for an independent applied research facility that would be used to conduct air emissions testing in a real-world foundry environment.   The CERP "research campus" facilty was proposed as a way to reduce potential risks and economic losses to individual foundries by providing a research service that benefits the industry as a whole.

In 1994, CERP was formed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) entered into by the U.S. government (represented by the U.S. Air Force's Sacramento Air Logistics Center) and private automobile manufacturers (under the auspices of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research, or USCAR).   Congress authorized appropriations to fund CERP through the Department of Defense.

The CERP facility was developed to be an independent applied research program that allows highly trained scientists and engineers to conduct air emissions testing in a real-world foundry environment.   Technikon LLC operated CERP under contract to the RDECOM ARDEC Environmental Technology Division.

CERP's purpose was to help the American metal casting industry meet federal clean air standards by testing foundry products and process improvements in a real-world foundry environment, to advance emission measurement capabilities for stationary sources, and to perform research into leading edge energy technologies that could be used to support casting operations.