United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Policy, Planning,
and Evaluation
(2161)
EPA 230-B-95-004
September 1995
&EPA
Putting Customers First
EPA's Customer Service Plan
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
CONTENTS
Executive Order
on Customer Service .............. 1
EPA's Mission
EPA's Framework
for Customer Service ............. 3
EPA's Draft Customer
Service Plans ........................... 6
1. Permitting ........................ 7
2. Pesticide Registration ..... 9
3. Research and
Demonstration Grants .. 11
4. Rulemaking .................... 12
5. Public Access ................. 14
6. State, Tribal, and Local
Program Grants ............. 17
7. Enforcement Inspections
and Compliance
Assistance ....................... 19
S.Voluntary Programs ....... 22
What We Are Learning About
Customer Satisfaction .......... 25
Photo: Steve Delaney
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
EXECUTIVE ORDER
ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
The Challenge
In March 1995, President Clinton directed every executive depart-
ment and federal agency to publish customer service standards by
September 1995 in a form readily available to customers. The
standards are expected to cover all operations that deliver signifi-
cant services directly to the public, including those delivered in
partnership with state and local governments.
Once in place, agencies are expected to track and measure their
performance against the customer service standards, and to report
results to customers annually. In addition, agencies are encour-
aged to survey employees about ideas to further improve cus-
tomer service, and to take special actions to recognize employees
for meeting or exceeding customer service standards and for
promoting customer service.
Finally, and of special significance to EPA, agencies are asked to
take actions to reach across agency lines of responsibility to better
serve shared customer groups. Where possible, agencies are
encouraged to take advantage of new information technology to
achieve the desired results.
The Report
This is EPA's first annual report to customers which lays out
customer service efforts for the coming year, and reports perfor-
mance over the last year. The first part of the report describes
EPA's mission and commitment to customer service. The second
part of the report gives detailed information for each core Agency
process - eight key activities EPA carries out that most directly
affect our customers. It also includes draft customer service stan-
dards and plans for next year's efforts. Under each core process,
examples of customer service in action are described.
The final section reports performance information received this
year from surveys completed by several core processes. It also
describes initial feedback EPA has received regarding our draft
customer service standards.
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
EPA's MISSION
The people who work at the Environmental Protection Agency
are dedicated to improving and preserving the environment in
this country and around the globe. Highly skilled and cultur-
ally diverse, we work with our partners to protect human health,
ecosystems, and the beauty of our environment using the best avail-
able science. We value and promote innovative and effective solu-
tions to environmental problems. We strive to protect and sustain
the productivity of the natural resources on which all life and human
activity depend.
Our Primary Customer - The Public
EPA's primary customer is the general public all who live on the
land, breathe the air, and share the earth's environment.
Our Intermediary Customers - Essential to Success
To serve the public, we work on a regular basis with a variety of
intermediary customers. Our ultimate success depends on how
effectively we work with and influence the actions of the many other
parties that are responsible for protecting the environment - includ-
ing international, federal, state, tribal, and local governments; indus-
try, agriculture, and small businesses; environmental and other
nonprofit organizations; and individuals.
Key to our effectiveness is understanding these intermediary
customers - their circumstances, where they get their information,
the constraints they face, and what motivates their decision-making.
With that understanding, we can then provide the information,
products, and services needed to support our customers in their
efforts to protect human health and the environment.
Our Commitment to Building Customer Service
EPA is working to ensure that its organization, strategies, people,
and systems communicate effectively with customers and are re-
sponsive to customer needs. We are committed to carrying out all
our work in a manner that shows respect for our customers and
understanding of their needs and circumstances.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
EPA's FRAMEWORK
FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Policy
We are committed to providing the best customer service possible. We
aim to achieve this through increased public participation, increased
public access to information, and more effictively responding to
customer needs.
Principles
Our approach rests on the following principles:
Encourage Public Participation: Increase customer involvement in
EPA's policy and decision-making processes. Improve our understand-
ing of what motivates customers and how we can best provide the
environmental products, services, and information they value. Use
public roundtables, focus groups, and formal surveys to listen to what
our customers think about the quality and value of the products and
services we provide.
Provide Access to Information: Make sure our customers are able to
obtain the kinds of information they need. Provide our customers with
reliable environmental information to make a wider variety of decisions -
- including regulatory, investment, and health decisions.
Respond to Our Customers' Needs: Make timely, appropriate changes
to our products, services, and processes to respond to the comments and
suggestions of our customers, without compromising environmental
outcomes.
Approach
EPA has adopted a multi-track approach to implementation of the
President's Customer Service Executive Order, moving to implement
both its spirit and specific requirements. The Agency is working to
incorporate an enhanced customer focus in everything we do.
Several major, new Agency efforts focus on key customer groups includ-
ing: key industrial sectors; state, tribal, and local governments; small
business; and those disproportionately affected by pollution. Examples
of these efforts include: the Common Sense Initiative - a program to
identify common sense approaches to environmental challenges working
industry-by-industry; Performance Partnerships with state, tribal, and
local governments; the creation of new compliance assistance centers;
and an Agency-wide focus on environmental justice. These examples
are discussed in more detail later in this report.
Other major efforts focus on key needs identified by our customers. These
include a strengthened environmental science program and improved
environmental information and statistics.
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
Finally, we reinvigorated the Agency's basic work by organizing it
into eight core processes that EPA uses to serve its customers. These
include: permitting; pesticide registration; research and demonstra-
tion grants; public access; state, tribal, and local program grants;
enforcement inspections and compliance assistance; and voluntary
programs. These eight core processes produce the services and
decisions of greatest interest to all of our key customers.
Timeframe
As many corporations throughout America have learned, reinventing
an organization to improve customer service requires a long-term
commitment. EPA has begun the process of implementing the
President's Executive Order on Customer Service and will continue to
phase in additional activities so that our reinvention efforts will be
lasting.
EPA's Implementation of the Executive Order began in September
1994 with the creation of seven pilot projects designed to put cus-
tomer-oriented approaches into action in our day-to-day operations.
The pilots allowed us to develop draft customer service standards and
work toward their adoption throughout EPA.
After implementing the pilot programs, we then identified the eight
core processes through which we interact with our customers, and
developed a tailored plan for implementing the Executive Order for
each core process. EPA has now drafted custlomer service standards
for all eight core processes. For some core processes, we have begun to
involve our customers to ensure that the draft standards address their
major concerns. More customer involvement must occur in the
coming year before the standards become final.
Plan for the Coming Year
EPA has developed individual implementation plans for each of eight
core process showing when Agency programs will implement the
major customer survey requirements of the Customer Service Execu-
tive Order. These requirements include designing and conducting
customer surveys; analyzing survey data; surveying EPA front-line
employees who interact with customers daily; and reporting annual
performance results. Programs will meet the requirements to the best
of their abilities and within the practical limits of EPA's Fiscal Year
1996 budget.
In the table below we have listed the timeframe over the next year
for completing the customer survey requirements under the Executive
Order for each Agency core process. As EPA's customer survey
activities are established, we will begin to address other requirements
listed in the Executive Order. The current implementation plans will
be updated in January 1996 to address the following additional
requirements:
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
Integration of Performance Information - We will describe how cus-
tomer survey data from a variety of separate programs and projects
will be integrated to measure overall EPA trends in meeting customer
service standards. Each core process team will address how it will
respond to survey findings.
Benchmarking - We will set benchmarks for annual performance
against the best-in-the- business.
Service Delivery - We will provide EPA customers a list of choices for
both the sources of service and the means of delivery, where there is
more than one way to achieve national environmental goals.
Information and Feedback - We will demonstrate how we will make all
EPA information on programs and services readily available to cus-
tomers.
Customer Feedback Mechanisms - We will establish systems to receive
and address customer suggestions and complaints.
EPA's Timeline for Completing Major Customer Service Tasks for FY1996
Task
1. Hold focus
group meetings
for customer
feedback
2. Develop
data collection
instruments
and surveys
3. Conduct
customer
surveys
4.Conduct
front-line
employee
S.Make customer
survey results
available
6. Implement
Customer
Service
Training
1.
Permitting
and Licensing
Completed
September -
November
1995
December
1995-
ongomg
To be
determined
September
1996
2.
Pesticide
Registration
Completed*
Completed*
Completed*
January
1995
June 1995
3.
Research
and
Demonstra-
tion Grants
To be
determined
October -
December
1995
December
1995
To be
determined
September
1996
4.
Rulemaking
December
1995
December
1995
January -
May 1996
December
1995
September
1996
5.
Public
Access
September -
December
1995
January -
March 1996
March -
June 1996
March -
June 1996
Hotlines-
begun in
February 1994
September
1996
6.
State, Tribal,
and Local
Program
Brants
Completed
January
1996
February -
May 1996
February -
May 1996
September
1996
7.
Enforcement
Compliance
Assistance
To be
determined
To be
determined
To be
determined
To be
determined
September
1996
I.
Voluntary
Programs
To be
determined
To be
determined
To be
determined
To be
determined
September
1996
October 1996
*Pesticide Registration will use focus groups and other methods to receive customer feedback during 1996
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
EPA's DRAFT CUSTOMER SERVICE PLANS
Introduction
Responding to the President's Executive Order on Customer Service, the
Environmental Protection Agency developed a customer service plan in
September 1994 that set forth a broad framework and started several
cutomer service pilot projects around the Agency. This report extends
EPA's original effort to all of our major programs. EPA's work was orga-
nized into the eight core processes described in EPA's framework for
customer service. We developed draft customer service standards and
an implementation plan for each core process. This chapter summarizes
the draft customer service standards and implementation plan for each of
the eight core processes. Specifically, the chapter describes services
provided by each core process, the customers who use those services, the
draft customer service standards, and plans for implementing customer
service efforts over the coming year.
Standards
The draft customer service standards presented in this report represent an
initial effort to identify the needs and concerns of our customers. When
finalized, these standards will guide the work of all EPA employees.
These standards are designed to be measurable and adaptable to meet the
changing needs of our customers. Customer feedback on these draft
standards will be critical to improving both our standards and our
performance.
The following pages summarize our draft customer service standards
and implementation plans as of August 1995.
Customer Service in Action
EPA has recently undertaken many innovative initiatives designed to
provide better service and flexibility to our customers while enhancing
the Agency's ability to protect the environment. These initiatives are
aimed at improving our customer service, introducing more common
sense into the way we do our work, and reducing costs. Examples of
EPA's innovative initiatives are highlighted throughout this report in
shaded boxes like this one.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
1. PERMITTING
Photo: Steve Delaney
What Are Our Services?
Permits are issued to ensure that facilities meet
applicable environmental health and environmental
safety standards. EPA authorizes state, tribal, and
local governments to issue permits to applicants. In
jurisdictions where neither delegation nor authori-
zation has occurred, EPA issues permits directly to
applicants. Permits are issued to control facility
emissions into the air (e.g. national emissions, acid
rain operating permits, new pollution source
reviews), water (e.g. national pollution discharge
elimination, stormwater runoff, underground waste
injection) and to ensure the safe management of
hazardous waste (e.g. treatment, storage, and
disposal).
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers include the general public; public
participants in the permitting process (e.g. local
citizens attending permit hearings); state, tribal, and
local governments issuing permits; and businesses
and government agencies that apply for permits.
What Are Our Customer Service Standards?
EPA developed draft customer service standards
and surveys for the three major customer groups of
its permitting programs, i.e., the public; the permit
applicant; and the state, tribal, or local permiting
authority. The standards and surveys will be used
as appropriate by EPA regional air, water, and waste
management permitting programs to evaluate their
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8
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
performance, and also will be made available to
authorized state, tribal, and local governments for
their use. These tools have been reviewed by EPA
headquarters and regional offices. EPA will seek
customer input on the customer service standards
before they are finalized.
For all three major customer groups:
1) We will prepare permits that are clear, fair,
appropriate, and effective.
2) Our permitting staff will treat you with profes-
sionalism and courtesy. Our staff will be
knowledgeable, responsive, cooperative, and
available.
For delegated state, tribal, and local programs:
3) Our relationships with you will be characterized
by partnership, open and honest dialogue,
efforts to empower you to the extent feasible and
appropriate, and sensitivity to your needs and
concerns.
4) We will work with you to continually improve
our delegation processes, so that they are as
efficient, effective, and nonburdensome as
possible.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Permits Improvement Team
EPA's Permits Improvement Team (PIT) has
spent the last year listening to the issues and
concerns of community groups, environmental
organizations, business representatives, and
governmental officials involved in the permit-
ting process. The PIT held sixteen stakeholder
meetings around the country and many more
meetings with individual stakeholder groups.
The PIT, which includes EPA, state, tribal and
local governmental representatives, is finalizing
recommendations for improving the permitting
process based on the comments received from
our stakeholders.
Some of the performance measures being
developed - e.g., measurements for the timeliness
of permit issuance and the elimination of permit
backlogs will be used as the basis for additional
customer service standards.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Survey a representative sample of the general
public who were involved in individual EPA permit
actions to determine their level of satisfaction with
EPA's permitting process. Survey permit applicants
who applied for an EPA issued permit to determine
their level of satisfaction with EPA's permitting
process. In the future, permit applicants will be
routinely surveyed at the conclusion of the permit-
ting process.
Survey all delegated or authorized state, tribal,
and local permitting programs on an annual basis to
determine how well these agencies feel EPA is
administering and overseeing permit related
delegations or authorizations.
Based on survey results, conduct focus group
meetings with permitting customers to address
concerns and develop an EPA response designed to
improve our services.
Meet periodically with EPA regional offices to
compare survey results and discuss improvements
in permitting programs.
Collect and compare customer service standards
from other federal agencies that delegate programs
to state and other governmental jurisdictions.
Develop benchmarks using performance data
from other governmental agencies providing a high
quality of service.
Establish complaint receipt and resolution systems
in EPA regional offices and notify customers of their
availability.
Develop specialized customer service training
based on public feedback from initial surveys.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
2. PESTICIDE REGISTRATION
Photo: Steve Delaney
What Are Our Services?
Pesticides are registered to ensure proper use so they
do not pose an unreasonable risk to human health or
the environment. EPA's services in this core process
include: registration for new pesticide; additional
registrations for registered pesticides; amendments
to existing registrations; registration for new uses for
previously registered pesticides; emergency exemp-
tions; experimental use permits; setting safe toler-
ance levels; and special local need registrations.
Other services include pesticide reregistration,
processing reregistration eligibility documents,
setting and revising exposure tolerances, data call-in
notices, and special chemical reviews. In fiscal year
1994, EPA completed about six thousand such
actions related to pesticide registration.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers are registrants; environmental and
public interest groups; states; tribes, and regions;
pesticide user groups; Congress; and the general
public.
What Are Our Standards?
EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) developed
the draft customer service standards for pesticide
registration. OPP's standards development was
guided by three assessments of customer satisfac-
tion completed in June of 1995 reflecting the
concerns of all pesticide registration customers. OPP
intends to obtain customer feedback before finaliz-
ing the customer service standards. These stan-
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10
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
dards will be integrated into OPP's daily work to
improve the pesticide registration process. As part
of our re-engineering efforts, OPP has conducted a
survey of front-line staff to seek their opinions and
comments.
The draft customer service standards for
pesticide registration are as follows:
1) We will be courteous, accurate, and helpful in all
dealings with our customers.
2)
We will answer telephone calls within 24 hours
of receipt, when possible. If the person receiving
the call cannot fully respond to the inquiry, the
customer will be forwarded to someone who
can.
3) We will try to answer all correspondence within
10 working days of receipt. However, if our
customers have raised questions which require
extensive research to answer, it may take us
longer. If we cannot provide a complete reply
promptly, we will contact the customer within
the 10-day period to explain why and when
they may expect a full response.
4) We will seek opportunities to involve all
affected stakeholders prior to major regulatory
or policy decisions.
5) We will provide clear and accurate information
about the policies and procedures for pesticide
registrations and reregistrations.
6) We will process applications and complete
evaluations as promptly and as efficiently as
possible without compromising either scientific
quality or health and safety considerations.
7) We will ensure that we meet our statutory
responsibilities to provide customers with easy
access to all available information on pesticides.
8) We will proactively involve states, tribes, and
EPA regional offices prior to establishing major
policies or making major regulatory decisions
affecting them.
9) We will undertake periodic surveys to find out
what our customers think of our services and
how we could make further improvements.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Evaluate current business processes to ensure
customer service standards can be met.
Hold focus groups to receive feedback on draft
customer service standards and performance goals.
Provide customer service training for front-line
staff.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Integrated External Customer Dialogue Committee in the Office of Pesticide Programs
EPA's Office of Pesticide Program (OPP) is establishing a Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee to provide
a forum for a diverse group of customers to communicate with, and give feedback to, OPP on pesticide
regulatory, policy, and implementation issues. Group members will be a cross-section of OPP customers
including: environmental and public interest groups, industry and trade associations, commodity and user
groups, state and federal government representatives, the public, and congressional staff. While the formal
committee will be composed of about two dozen members, committee meetings will be open to the general
public. The goal of the Dialogue Committee is to aid EPA in building consensus on proposed modifications
to current OPP policies and procedures used to evaluate and reduce the potential risks posed by pesticides.
OPP hopes to hold 3 to 4 committee meetings per year beginning this fall.
The Committee will operate under the auspices of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
11
3. RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION GRANTS
What Are Our Services?
EPA's research and demonstration grants process
provides grant funding for the academic and other
not-for-profit research communities to expand our
understanding of pollutants and their effect on the
environment. Approximately 400 initial grant
awards and 500 funding increases on previously
awarded grants were made in fiscal year 1994.
Services are provided mainly by EPA's Office of
Research and Development (ORD). ORD consults
internal Agency programs in its selection of
research topics and on the potential uses of the
research results.
Who Are Our Customers?
There are about 3,000 academic and other not-for-
profit research community customers who are
recipients of research and demonstration grants, as
well as the general public that benefits from this
research. Internal agency customers include EPA
program and regional offices.
What Are Our Standards?
The Environmental Protection Agency's research
and demonstration grants provide financial support
primarily to academic and other not-for-profit
research institutions that are expanding the under-
standing of the world around us. The Agency
receives several thousand grant applications each
year, and applicants are interested in knowing the
status of the applications throughout the review and
award process. Therefore:
1) We will acknowledge receipt of proposals and
applications within three weeks. The acknow-
ledgement will include a record number
for use in tracking the proposals and applications.
2) We will respond to telephone inquiries within 24
hours and in a courteous manner.
3) We will conduct administrative and legal
reviews and issue assistance agreements within
60 days from the date of receipt in the grants
management office of a complete request for
funding.
4) We will incorporate the terms and conditions of
the Federal Demonstration Project into research
grants.
5) For active grants, we will process complete
requests and issue administrative amendments
within four weeks.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Identify changes to the grants process needed to
meet customer standards.
Identify specialty research organizations that are
involved with the research and demonstrations
grants program.
Conduct focus groups and workshops to get
customer feedback.
Identify training needs for front-line staff.
Photo: Steve Delaney
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
4. RULEMAKING
What Are Our Services?
Rulemaking is the process of writing regulations
controlling the activities of business, government or the
public as required by law and necessary to protect
human health and the environment. All major EPA
programs participate in the rulemaking process. EPA's
services in the rulemaking process focus on involving
customers in rule development and informing
customers of their responsibilities once a rule is
finalized. EPA interacts with customers continually
in the rulemaking process. In the proposal develop-
ment stage we obtain data and information from
customers relevant to the rule, as well as provide
customers with an opportunity to discuss concerns
about Agency policy. During the public comment
period, after the rule is proposed in the Federal
Register, the official government publication
announcing laws, rules, and policies, we hold
public hearings and receive public comment.
Immediately after the dissemination of the final rule
in the Federal Register, we inform the regulated
community of the requirements of the rule. While
we are legally required to communicate with our
customers via the Federal Register, we often interact
with them in other ways to provide additional
information.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our rulemaking customers are: the regulated
community, i.e., those who must comply with one or
more of EPA's regulations; other governmental
organizations at the state, local, or tribal level who
implement and enforce the regulations; and various
Photo: Steve Delaney
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Regulation Review -- Customer Outreach
On March 4,1995, President Clinton
requested all federal regulatory
agencies to conduct a line-by-line
review of existing regulations to
identify those that were outdated or
otherwise in need of reform and
report back to him by June 1,1995.
meetings with interested groups
around the country.
In conducting its review, EPA
relied heavily upon input provided
by customer groups when determin-
ing which regulatory revisions and
deletions to pursue. EPA conducted
outreach in three ways: public
meetings with EPA's Administrator
and Deputy Administrator, meetings
organized by specific EPA programs
offices, and broad-based meetings
organized by EPA's regional offices.
In all, EPA held more than 75
Last spring, the Administrator
and Deputy Administrator partici-
pated in public forums in cities
including Dallas, Tallahassee, Kansas
City, San Francisco, and New York
City. People attending these forums
included business community
representatives, environmentalists,
state and federal front-line workers,
and other interested parties. Other
EPA work teams also met with
representatives of these groups.
These meetings ranged from open
forums, town-hall meetings, to issue-
specific meetings with targeted
audiences. Recommendations from
these customer meetings were
forwarded to EPA teams conducting
line-by-line review of regulations.
As a result of the review, EPA
identified more than 1,400 pages of
obsolete or unnecessary regulations
that it will remove from the Federal
Register, about 11% of our current rule
pages. In addition, most of our other
regulations will be revised to simplify
or streamline requirements. Overall,
EPA will take actions to delete or
modify sections involving seventy-
five percent of our existing rules.
The Agency will track success in
making the proposed changes through
the Regulatory Policy Council, a
senior level body directed by the
Deputy Administrator.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
13
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
public interest groups, environmental organizations,
and citizen groups who are interested in the outcome
of our regulatory processes.
What Are Our Standards?
Draft customer service standards were developed by
a team representing the major offices involved in the
rulemaking process. The team's work used customer
interviews to identify customer concerns. The draft
standards are as follows:
1) We will ensure that customers have input into
the rule development process by conducting
public forums or using electronic media or
other forms of communication.
2) We will write rules so they can be understood
by the people who use and implement them.
Rules should be tailored to the legal and techni-
cal knowledge and resources available to those
affected.
3) We will include in the preamble of all Federal
Register notices accompanying a proposed or
final rule, a plain English explanation summariz-
ing the problem the rule is trying to solve, a
summary of what the rule requires, and a short
explanation of how the rule solves the problem.
4) We will work to ensure that all members of the
regulated community know what is expected of
them. To the extent possible, we will notify all
known parties who must comply with the rule
through written or electronic media.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Survey samples of our customers asking about
service relating to recently completed rulemakings.
Survey Agency staff to identify successful communi-
cation methods.
Conduct customer focus-group meetings to discuss
our proposed customer service standards.
Develop ways to measure performance against our
proposed standards.
Provide staff training to improve our ability to
facilitate two-way communication between EPA and
our customers. Training will be designed to improve
two-way communication, listening skills, and meeting
facilitation skills. Training will also be designed to
improve our ability to write in plain English in order
to better communicate with a wider audience of
readers.
The Common Sense Initiative (CSI)
"We want to make good on what business and environmentalists
have been telling us for two decades - that we must look at whole
facilities, whole industries, and their overall impact on the
environment. We must do a better job of cleaning up the environ-
ment and do it cheaper."
-Carol Browner
EPA's Common Sense Initiative (CSI) embodies a new
vision of environmental policy. Through this initiative,
representatives from federal, state, and local governments;
industry; community-based and national environmental
organizations; and environmental justice and labor organi-
zations have come together to examine the full range of
environmental requirements affecting six pilot industries:
automobile manufacturing, computers and electronics, iron
and steel, metal finishing, petroleum refining, and printing.
For the first time, these diverse interests are cooperating to
improve environmental regulations and develop compre-
hensive strategies for environmental protection. By
involving customers in designing new solutions to environ-
mental problems, EPA is taking a step toward more coop-
erative implementation of environmental programs in the
future.
CSI operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA). It consists of a parent council and six subcommit-
tees (one per industry sector), with participants representing
every major stakeholder group. CSI makes consensus
recommendations to the Agency on changes in environmen-
tal regulations, statutes, and programs that will result in
"cleaner, cheaper, and smarter" outcomes for industries as a
whole, instead of focusing on the traditional medium-by-
medium, pollutant-by-pollutant approach. The initiative
reflects President Clinton's commitment to setting strong
environmental standards, while encouraging common
sense, innovation, and flexibility in how they are met. The
bottom line for CSI is a cleaner environment at less cost to
taxpayers and industry.
Many of the CSI discussions have addressed such issues
as: reducing duplicative reporting requirements, permits
streamlining, improved community involvement in facility-
related environmental decisions, providing incentives and
eliminating barriers to pollution prevention, and improving
the regulatory system to provide more flexibility in how
standards are met.
A Public docket for CSI is available electronically on
the Internet through CSI's Homepage on the Agency's
Public Access Server.
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PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
5. PUBLIC ACCESS
Photo: Steve Delaney
What Are Our Services?
One of the most important products EPA provides
is information about environmental conditions that
other governments, businesses, and the public can
use to make more informed decisions. EPA
operates more than a dozen hotlines that answer
calls from the public and provide assistance on air,
water, and hazardous waste issues. In total, the
different hotlines handle several hundred thou-
sand calls per year. EPA also responds to other
inquiries which come in the form of walk-ins to
EPA public information centers, electronic mail,
letters, and faxes requesting EPA information.
These inquiries constitute most of the contact EPA
has with the public.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers are the general public; regulated
community; tribal, state, local, and federal govern-
ments; media; international organizations; environ-
mental groups; and other interested parties that
contact the Agency to request general information.
What Are Our Standards?
1) We will provide accurate, up-to-date, and
reliable information, products, and services.
2) We will actively listen and be responsive
to customer concerns and needs regarding
our services.
3) If an inquiry needs to be addressed by
another organization, we will provide an
accurate referral, and, whenever possible,
route the inquiry directly.
4) We will strive to make information available
through a variety of channels, including
electronic media and intermediaries, such as
community organizations and local libraries.
5) We will hold ourselves accountable for a
satisfactory response by giving contact names
and telephone numbers or e-mail addresses for
reporting back on the quality of our responses.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
15
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
6) If you write to us (via mail, fax or computer):
We will endeavor to mail a response within 10
business days of receipt. If we need more time to
research the answer, we will contact you within
those 10 days to tell you when to expect our
response and who the contact person is.
7) If you telephone us:
We will provide a single toll-free public
information telephone line, which will help route
inquiries. This new service will be operational by
the beginning of fiscal year 1997, depending on
Agency resource levels.
We will answer the call promptly and
courteously.
We will make every effort to answer questions
immediately, and we will always respond with a
status report by close of the next business day.
8) If you contact us via computer:
We will provide a single address for connec-
tion to all EPA resources on the Internet.
We will provide descriptions, including
source, known quality, and limitations, of data
made available electronically.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Survey a sample of customers who use telephone
hotlines, dockets (official archives), the EPA Public
Information Center (PIC), and the Agency's public
Internet server.
Provide customer feedback survey capability
through the computerized Government Information
Locator Service (GILS).
Incorporate EPA's Customer Service Standards
into all contract work.
Train staff on basic customer service skills with in-
depth training for employees whose job involves
public access duties. Training will include tele-
phone skills, use of the automated GILS tool, and an
overview of EPA's programs and information
resources.
Office of the Small Business
Ombudsman
EPA's Office of the Small Business
Ombudsman's (SBO) primary customer group is
the small business community. Significant
secondary customers include state small busi-
ness ombudsmen and national trade associations
serving small businesses. The SBO acts as an
effective conduit for small businesses to access
EPA and facilitates communications between the
small business community and the Agency. It
investigates and resolves disputes with EPA and
works with EPA personnel in the development
and enforcement of environmental regulations to
increase their understanding of small businesses.
In response to the identified needs of the
office's target customer groups, the SBO has
undertaken a variety of major outreach efforts
including:
Staffing a small business hotline that provides
regulatory and technical assistance information.
Maintaining and distributing an extensive
collection of informational and technical litera-
ture developed by the various EPA program
offices.
Communicating with over 45 national trade
associations representing several million small
businesses and with state and regional ombuds-
men who serve local businesses.
The SBO actively seeks feedback on its
responsiveness to small business inquiries
primarily in the areas of technical assistance and
advocacy. Individual outreach activities are
tracked and reported by the SBO on a monthly
basis.
The Office of the Small Business
Ombudsman toll-free telephone number is
1 (800) 368-5888.
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16
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Improving Public Access to EPA Information
EPA's Strategic Plan for Information Resources Management calls for dramatically
improving and changing the way EPA manages its information resources. The focus is
to provide high quality environmental protection information quickly and easily
accessible to the public. Moving towards a more customer-focused organization, the
Agency is in the planning stages of creating a central 1-800 telephone number to help
EPA customers locate information in the most efficient manner possible. Once on line,
this service will provide quality information, and act as the Agency's primary referral
service to the many Agency hotlines, libraries, and electronic resources.
Connecting to EPA on the Internet
For customers who have computer access, EPA has established a public access server
for the Internet. Via the server customers can access the following information:
Resource information - environmental directories, on-line libraries, publication
catalogs,
Data systems - including ENVIROFACTS, STORET, and AIRS
Legislation and regulations - Federal Register notices, environmental impact
statements, public meeting information
Program office information - Gulf of Mexico Program, National Estuaries Program,
Great Lakes Information Network
EPA Contracts, Grants and Fellowships - Grants, Requests for Proposals, Commerce
Business Daily announcements
Consumer information - Handbooks, UV Index, Energy Star Complaint Product
Database
Customers can access the EPA server via various routes including the gopher
[gopher.epa.gov] and on the world wide web [http://www.epa.gov/]. Please contact
us via e-mail at puclic_access@epamail.epa.gov for assistance in finding general EPA
information.
The Government Information Locator Service (GILS)
GILS is a federally mandated initiative intended to improve public access to govern-
ment information by providing on-line a "virtual card catalog" of government informa-
tion holdings. Since January 1995, an Agency-wide GILS Workgroup under the
auspices of EPA's Executive Steering Committee has been laying out EPA's Govern-
ment Information Locator Service based upon extensive customer feedback on require-
ments, implementation plans, designs, and prototypes. The GILS will be housed on
the EPA Internet Public Access Server and will provide an on-line search, requests for
additional assistance, and customer satisfaction response capabilities. Implementation
of a prototype is planned for the end of September, 1995 and full implementation is
mandated by the end of December, 1995.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
17
6. STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL PROGRAM GRANTS
What Are Our Services?
EPA relies on several sets of intermediary customers
that provide front-line environmental services to the
public. One key set of such customers is our
governmental partners: state, tribal, and local
governments. Many of our government partners are
co-regulators with EPA; many directly deliver
environmental protection services such as water
treatment or landfill management. EPA works with
its governmental partners in many ways, providing
funding, and collaborating on a variety of environ-
mental activities including information provision,
environmental clean-ups, scientific and technical
activities, ambient monitoring, standard-setting, and
compliance assurance.
A core element of EPA's relations with states is
its funding relationship. EPA provides states, who
can be delegated authority to run federal environ-
mental protection laws, federal grant money to
support that implementation. EPA had 23 grant
programs that awarded 1,260 grants to state and
tribal governments in fiscal year 1994. Grant
program services include negotiating grant agree-
ments, issuing new grant awards, funding grant
amendments, and processing other non-funding
related grant amendments.
JSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Local Governments and Small Communities
In order to create a forum for identifying and discussing local
government issues, EPA formally chartered a Local Govern-
ment Advisory Committee and a Small Town Task Force. The
advisory committee includes representatives from large cities
such as Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as representatives
from communities as small as Fairfield, Idaho (population
371). The Small Town Task Force has representatives from all
corners of the United States, including Thorne Bay, Alaska and
Jasper, Florida, who bring to EPA the perspectives of these
mostly-volunteer jurisdictions and the people who run them.
Through both the advisory committee and the task force EPA
staff and local experts have come to know and understand
each other, and suggestions from these groups have greatly
influenced several recent EPA initiatives. In addition to the
advisory groups, EPA has launched the environmental LINKS
program, in cooperation with the International City Managers
Association, to provide environmental information to small
local governments.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers are recipients of continuing environ-
mental program grants-state agencies, tribal
governments, and local agenciesand, ultimately,
the general public.
What Are Our Standards?
The standards developed for meeting customer
needs are derived from a pilot customer satisfaction
survey of state water grants conducted in March
1995, and through the efforts of EPA's Region 6
office in Dallas, Texas, to poll the needs of their state
and tribal water program customers. The results of
both of these surveys, combined with direct internal
feedback from other EPA offices managing continu-
ing state environmental programs, enabled us to
develop standards that will improve and streamline
our current grant award and management process
for continuing environmental program grants. We
intend to make every effort to reduce the burden on
customers complying with EPA's grants process.
1) We will reduce the amount of grant paperwork
by 25% through such activities as consolidation
of application and reporting requirements,
electronic transfer, and multi-year grant work
programs.
2) We will acknowledge receipt of all grant
applications within 10 working days.
3) For established grant programs, we will award
grants funds within 90 days after receipt of a
complete grant application (provided that the
responsible EPA office has received funding
authorization.)
4) We will respond to telephone inquiries on
assistance matters by the end of the next
business day.
5) We will consult, in a timely manner, with states,
tribes, and localities throughout the develop-
ment of all major grants guidance and policy
documents.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Complete the grant process studies recently
undertaken in various program offices, e.g., Office
of Water pilot survey, Region 6 pilot survey, internal
Grants Administration Division Satisfaction Survey,
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18
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
Resource Conservation Recovery Act grant proce-
dure changes, etc.
Establish baselines of performance and customer
satisfaction.
Conduct surveys to guide the implementation of
standards. Common surveys will be developed
through our Grants Administration Division in order
to ensure internal consistency and to ease the
response burden on customers.
Begin initial steps to implement changes to
improve the grants processes, including expanding
EPA's Auto-Grants Electronic Filing Pilot in other
interested states, and implementing the Perfor-
mance Partnership Grant Program if authorized.
Process customer service information from pilot
studies and use ongoing internal and external focus
group feedback to set future customer service
priorities.
Identify training needs for grants staff as feedback
comes in from pilot efforts. Basic training to
implement the final standards will be provided.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Improving the Relationship Between EPA and the States
The states and tribes are very important partners with EPA. When program authority has been
delegated by EPA to a state, the state is often the primary implementor and enforcer of national
environmental standards. Therefore, EPA relies heavily on an effective relationship with the states.
EPA can be seen as a wholesaler "selling" to states who then "retail" environmental protection in
local communities.
In recent years, the states have been telling EPA that a different relationship is needed which
draws on relative state and EPA strengths, and which gives state environmental programs a stronger
say in setting environmental priorities.
In response to that feedback, EPA's Administrator established a State/EPA Capacity Steering
Committee in 1993 made up of high-level representatives from the states and EPA. This committee
sponsored a series of projects resulting in the direct involvement of state and tribal officials in EPA's
planning and budgeting process for the first time; increased state involvement in regulatory develop-
ment; incorporation of state expertise in EPA's Information Resources Management Task Force; and
work done with states and tribes on grants and finance innovations.
Two sweeping innovations have emerged from this effort which promise to have national impact:
1) During Fiscal Year 1995, EPA and four states initiated a Grant Flexibility Pilot Program, which
served as precursors to the new Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) program proposed by the
President in February 1995. Pending Congressional authorization, EPA is prepared to offer states the
option of combining program grants in fiscal year 1996 on a scale never before possible. The flexibil-
ity made possible by this program should allow states an important new tool to address their most
critical environmental problems more effectively.
2) EPA and the states have agreed to a broad change in how we will work together to establish
priorities, involve the public, and measure progress too. The approach to a state/EPA partnership is
being piloted in FY 1996. When fully implemented in fiscal year 1997, this new system is designed to
be combined with the funding flexibility offered under PPG's to increase the states' ability to address
environmental and health problems with much greater efficiency and effectiveness.
Long-term measurement and evaluation strategies are being put in place to enable both EPA and
states to monitor the progress and success of these new efforts.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
19
7. ENFORCEMENT INSPECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE
Photo: Steve Delaney
What Are Our Services?
We ensure that the regulated community is in
compliance with environmental laws through a
combination of enforcement and compliance
assistance. Real public health and safety, and a clean
environment, cannot be achieved without compli-
ance with the nation's environmental laws. Federal
compliance assistance is provided primarily through
national compliance assistance centers and through
on-site visits and outreach conducted by regional
and state field representatives. We accomplish our
enforcement goals by conducting inspections that
verify compliance or non-compliance. For example,
in the pesticides and toxics program alone, about
2,400 inspections were performed by EPA staff in
fiscal year 1993.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers include facility managers and other
personnel where inspections are performed; indus-
trial sector customers that call the Compliance
Assistance Centers for assistance; states, tribes, and
local governments; and the general public.
What Are Our Standards?
Compliance Assistance Centers:
1) Assistance Centers will be accessible by com-
puter 24 hours a day or by phone from 8:00 am
until 5:00 pm EST.
Metal Finishing Assistance Center: The
centers' World Wide Web site and fax-back
option is available 24 hours a day. Callers may
speak with a representative between the hours of
8:00 am and 5:00 pm EST. Web connection will
be immediate while phone connection will
depend on the volume of callers at a given time.
2) Customers questions will be answered and
requested materials provided within one week.
Metal Finishing Assistance Center: Customers
using the web site will get materials instantly,
queries to any list server will be answered within
one week. Faxed materials will arrive within
one day of request. Answers to telephone
inquiries will be provided within five business
days.
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20
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Business Assistance Center
EPA's Region 3, which includes Pennsylva-
nia, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia,
Maryland, and the District of Columbia,
established a Business Assistance Center to
work with the small and medium-sized
business community. The objective is to
help these businesses identify and comply
with environmental regulation. The Center
will also serve as a focal point for various
EPA programs designed to encourage
technological innovation and promote
commercialization, financing, marketing,
and export of environmental technology.
The Center is based on the premise that
environmental progress and economic
progress are not mutually exclusive, and
that EPA can provide valuable service to
businesses seeking to conduct affairs in an
environmentally responsible manner.
Businesses can obtain more information by
calling 1(800)228-8711.
3) Customers will be referred to other assistance
providers and given their name and phone
number, who can better and fully respond to
their needs (where possible).
Metal Finishing Assistance Center: The
centers will have an established referral system
to provide customers with a roadmap to receive
the proper service. This roadmap will include
subject experts as well as other web servers
providing customer services.
4) Assistance providers will answer questions and
provide materials in a courteous, helpful, and
professional manner.
Compliance Assistance Field Representatives:
1) Requests for field assistance will be provided in
a timely manner, taking resource constraints into
consideration.
2) Field representatives will be technically knowl
edgeable; know regulatory requirements well;
and be courteous, helpful, and professional.
Compliance Inspectors:
1) Inspectors will make clear who he or she
represents and the purpose of the visit.
2) Inspectors will be technically knowledgeable;
understand the regulatory requirements that
apply to the facility; and be courteous and
professional.
What Will We Do In The Coming Year?
Schedule focus group meetings at assistance
centers in order to capture customer service satisfac-
tion information.
Design and evaluate possible customer response
card evaluation system.
Examine the results of performance on an as
needed basis, or in conjunction with planned
personnel evaluations or, in the case of the centers,
when assistance tools are being modified.
Address customer service performance results as
part of annual regional reviews by regional and
headquarters management.
What Customer Service Training Will We
Provide?
We will assess the need for customer service training
during the coming year.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Compliance Assistance Centers
EPA's compliance assistance centers are designed for
people who are looking for assistance in complying with
environmental regulations for specific regulated
communites including automotive services, small farms
and agricultural services, metal finishing, and printing.
For more information on EPA compliance assistance
centers call (202) 564-2280, or write to the following
address:
EPA Compliance Assistance Centers
Office of Compliance
Mail Code 2221A
401 M St. S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
21
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Initiative
Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI, will allow EPA's regulated reporting community to
transfer compliance reporting data to the Agency. In time, EDI will automate the transmission
of data, computer-to-computer, for all industry reporting required under our environmental
regulations. EDI offers industry many benefits including the following:
Millions of dollars saved in reporting costsas we eliminate the expenses involved in managing
transactions in the paper medium
Much greater control of data quality in submissions-through automated quality assurance/
quality control, and the elimination of errors through manual rekeying of data
Opportunities to improve internal management of environmental dataparticularly for corporate-
level environmental managers, through free flow and centralized management of environmen-
tal data across a company
Dramatic improvements in electronic access to EPA and State environmental databases
Opportunities to reengineer and streamline compliance processby creating more uniform and
integrated reporting requirements and procedures across States and programs, and automa-
tion of reporting on full range of business processes related to compliance
To ensure that the EDI initiative will provide these benefits, EPA is implementing EDI in
close collaboration with affected industries, environmental groups, and our state and local
agency environmental partners.
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22
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
8. VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS
Photo: Steve Delaney
What Are Our Services?
The Environmental Protection Agency is working to
create new and innovative ways to achieve environ-
mental results. EPA's Voluntary Pollution Preven-
tion Programs, such as Waste Wise, Climate Wise,
WAVE, Green Lights, 33/50, and the Pesticide
Environmental Stewardship Program, promote
partnerships with the regulated community and
other organizations to create opportunities for
demonstrating environmental leadership. These
efforts complement traditional, regulatory ap-
proaches to environmental protection by emphasiz-
ing pollution prevention, common sense, flexibility,
and economic performance.
Who Are Our Customers?
Our customers are the manufacturing industry;
large businesses; hotels and motels; nonprofit
organizations; utilities; state, tribal, and local
environmental agencies; agricultural organizations;
computer and monitor manufacturers, and the
general public.
What Are Our Standards?
1) We will always treat our customers with
professional courtesy and respect.
2) We will proactively provide our customers
accurate, up-to-date, and reliable information,
products, and services, including high quality
documents and publications.
3) We will actively listen to our customers' concerns
and needs regarding our services and will
develop technical assistance services designed to
address those needs and concerns.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
23
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Project Excellence and Leadership (Project XL)
Project XL was created by President Clinton in his
Reinventing Environmental Regulation initiative. He
described XL projects as "those giving the regulated
community the opportunity to demonstrate excel-
lence and leadership ... the flexibility to replace the
requirements of the current system ... with an
alternative strategy developed by the company."
These projects are real world tests of innovative
strategies that have the potential to achieve cleaner
and cheaper results than conventional regulatory
approaches.
On May 23,1995, EPA announced the solicitation
of proposals for Project XL. There are three catego-
ries of Project XL programs described in the Federal
Register announcement: the XL program for facilities;
the industry-wide or sector-based XL program; and
XL program dealing with government agencies
regulated by EPA. Private and public entities
regulated by EPA under its various statutory authori-
ties are invited to submit proposals in these areas.
Proposals for a fourth area the community-based
XL program will be accepted at a later time.
EPA set a goal of implementing a total of fifty
projects in the four program areas within the next two
years, to be undertaken in full partnership with the
states. EPA will select up to six project proposals this
fall. As of August 10, ten proposals had been submit-
ted to EPA and nine had made it to the technical
review stage.
To inform potential applicants about Project XL, we
have been developing an extensive outreach program.
The Project XL staff is working with EPA regional
offices and private companies to hold informational
sessions for interested parties. To date, three such
sessions have been held and at least five more have
been planned. Project XL staff are available to speak
with any parties interested in learning more about the
program. EPA is also in the process of developing a
voice-mail driven fax-on-demand phone line for calls
related to Project XL. Callers can request any XL
document or proposal, which is then automatically
faxed or mailed, and get up-to-date information about
the program through recorded messages.
4) We will ensure that inquiries will be referred to
the right office and individual in EPA, or beyond
EPA, if appropriate. We will encourage custom-
ers to report back on unsuccessful referrals.
5) When possible, we will make every effort to
respond to inquiries for information within two
business days and for more complex inquiries
within five business days.
6) We will strive to make information available
through various channels, including electronic
media, faxes, and intermediaries such as state
assistance organizations, trade associations, and
state agencies.
7) We will recognize, reward, and publicly ac-
knowledge the accomplishments of our custom -
ers who achieve success in voluntary programs.
8) We will make every effort to streamline and
make customer reporting requirements as
practical and easy as possible
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24
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN ACTION
Community-Based Environmental Protection
Community-Based Environmental Protection (CBEP) is the ultimate public
information program. The CBEP approach originated in EPA's Regional Offices
in response to the needs of local communities, states, and tribes for information
about the quality of the environment and effect of development on their quality
of life. Unlike EPA's traditional national programs, the focus of CBEP is on
"people and the places where they live." Uniform national standards have been
immensely valuable in setting a national floor of environmental protection, but
they do not respond to diverse ecosystems and local environmental values.
Community-based environmental protection is fundamentally different from
our traditional regulatory programs in that it is driven by local conditions, goals,
and choices. In many areas of the country, EPA's base programs are delivering
sustainable environmental quality that that meets community needs and
expectations. Experience shows that communities, states, and tribes will move
independently to address their environmental concerns, often in cooperation
with industry. Ideally, CBEP is a stakeholder-driven process that uses the best
available science, has broad public participation, and gives careful consideration
to a full range of potential solutions, including education, incentives, and
voluntary actions by government, business, and private citizens.
EPA's Regional Offices are already working directly with over 300 communi-
ties to address issues such as fragile ecosystem and environmental justice.
However, EPA lacks the resources to work in every community in the country.
EPA hopes to extend its reach through partnerships with other federal agencies,
states, tribes, and non-governmental organizations. As importantly, EPA will
develop analytical tools, scientific research and assessments, and new data will
provide electronic access via the Internet to much of the information that
communities need.
The CBEP goal is sound environmental and economic decision-making at all
levels of government.
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN 25
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING
ABOUT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION?
Customer Feedback A Broad View
EPA is constantly in the public eye, and so our customers judge our mission,
decisions and performance every day. We hear their opinions on the quality of
our service from a variety of sources.
At the broadest of levels, the quality of EPA's customer service is reflected in
the attitudes of the American public - EPA's ultimate customer - toward our
mission, the pace of environmental progress and implementation of environmen-
tal laws. A recent Harris Poll found EPA's mission continues to be popular
among a strong majority of Americans. According to the poll, most Americans
believe that they are being provided an appropriate level of protection, and a
significant fraction of the American public would prefer more environmental
protection. These findings confirm the importance Americans place on EPA's
work and the environmental quality they enjoy.
We have heard major concerns, however, among EPA's partners - i.e., our
many government, industry and environmental customers who work most
closely with EPA to implement federal environmental laws - about how best to
carry out our mission, today and in the future. In nine "roundtable" discussions
on national environmental goals conducted throughout the country last year
with hundreds of EPA's partners, we heard a single, consistent message. It was
that how EPA conducts its business, and the resulting quality of relationships
with its partners, will profoundly affect the country's ability to meet any environ-
mental goals it sets for itself.
In response to our customer's advice, EPA is reinventing its partnerships -
both through improvements to its eight traditional core processes that strengthen
our present relationships, and through initiatives designed to create entirely new
relationships. In the coming year we will begin to use customer feedback to
determine whether the many changes EPA is making are yielding the intended
improvements in customer satisfaction.
Early Customer Feedback on the Performance of EPA's Core Processes
Over the past year, EPA has sought feedback from its customers on the perfor-
mance of certain specific program activities undertaken within our core pro-
cesses. The table below summarizes both the core processes and outreach
method used, i.e. formal surveys and focus groups (including work-related
discussions with customers). The table shows a solid start for seven out of the
eight core processes, with the most extensive work thus far in public access
our first and most frequent point of contact with customers.
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26
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
Early Findings
The activities conducted to determine customer
satisfaction involved seven of eight core processes.
1. Timeliness
"Timeliness" emerged as THE single most important
issue to our customers. Customers told us that
timeliness is important in virtually every aspect of
the Agency's business. The survey results showed
that there has been significant improvement in our
timeliness in responding to requests for information
from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program.
TRI documented an improvement in response time
for certain kinds of requests between 1990 and 1994
(from an average of 14 days to 3 days ) and from 37
days to 7 days to respond to requests that require
special computation).
2. Early Participation
Our customers told us that we need to increase
the degree of upfront customer participation in
Agency decision-making processes. Specifically,
our customers asked for:
More-and early-involvement in the Agency's
grant priority-setting process;
More opportunities for early input into the
decision-making process of the Agency's pesticide
registration programs;
Early involvement and education of the public in
the permitting process;
Easier access to quality information and tools (e.g.,
EPA should improve its sharing of pollution preven-
tion data, use of expert systems, and facilitation of
electronic access to tools and information);
More effective training for both regional and state
staff and for the public and regulated community;
and
More flexibility in the use of grant funds.
The table on the opposite page summarizes the
range of concerns raised in customer feedback and
EPA's response in draft customer service standards
and Agency iniatives.
CORE PROCESSES FEEDBACK
PERMITTING
RULEMAKING
STATE, TRIBAL,
AND LOCAL
PROGRAM GRANTS
PUBLIC ACCESS
VOLUNTARY
PROGRAMS
RESEARCH AND
DEMONSTRATION
GRANTS
ENFORCEMENT
INSPECTIONS AND
COMPLIANCE
ASSISTANCE
PESTICIDE
REGISTRATION
FOCUS
GROUPS
SURVEYS
AND
FEEDBACK
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EPA's CUSTOMER SERVICE PLAN
27
jmmary of Customer Concerns and EPA's Response
CORE PROCESSES
CUSTOMER CONCERNS
These are the issues that our customers raised...
EPA'S RESPONSE
.. .EPA's Customer service standards and new initiatives
(in bold) are intended to address these concerns.
PERMITTING
- Permits improvement team
PESTICIDE
REGISTRATION
- Quality of service
Timeliness of service
- Headquarters responsiveness
- More grant flexibility
- More federal/state cooperation
- Upfront participation
Consistency in regulatory decisions, science reviews
- Courteous, accurate, helpful
- Clear, accurate information for applicants
- Answer phone calls in 24 hours
- Answer routine mail in 10 days
- Evaluate, process applications promptly
- Upfront involvement of stakeholders in regulations and policy
- Upfront involvement of stakeholders in regulations and policy
- Upfront involvement of stakeholders in regulations and policy
- External Customer Dialogue Committee
RULEMAKING
- Flexibility in achieving environmental goals
Regulatory Review Executive Order
Common Sense Initiative
Reduce paperwork by 25%
PUBLIC ACCESS
- Agency of data
- Timeliness of Response
- Completeness of data
- Publicly available data
- Understandability of response
- Accurate, timely, reliable information
- Accurate referrals
- Accurate, timely, reliable information
- Calls on toll-free line handled promptly and courteously
- Single computer address; response in 10 days
- Mail responses in 10 days
-EDI
- New channels such as EDI, community organizations, libraries
- Small Business Ombudsman
- Listen to and respond to customers
STATE, TRIBAL,
AND LOCAL
PROGRAM
GRANTS
- Timeliness (all levels)
- Upfront participation
- More flexible use of funds
- Electronic Data Interchange awareness of training
- Water grant consolidation
- Award grants 90 days from application receipt
- Respond to phone inquiries in 24 hours
- Small Town Task Force
Performance Partnership Program
EDI Pilot Program
Performance Partnership Program
ENFORCEMENT
AND
COMPLIANCE
ASSISTANCE
- Overfiling
More compliance assistance
Business Assistance Center
- Compliance Assistance Center
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28
PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST
SPOTLIGHT ON PERFORMANCE
Office of
Pesticide Programs
Hotline Survey
The survey taken of Pesticide
Hotline callers had the following
results: 1) satisfaction with
verbal information received-
78% very satisfied; 21% some-
what satisfied; and 1% not
satisfied; 2) accessibility to
pesticide information-12% very
satisfied; 42% somewhat
satisfied; and 46% not satisfied;
and 3) overall responsiveness to
the public-31% very satisfied;
62% somewhat satisfied; and 7%
not satisfied.
EPA Over-filing Survey
In feedback EPA received from a survey published by an associa-
tion of state environmental directors called the Environmental
Council of States, it learned about enforcement issues affecting the
relationship between states and EPA. For example, the survey
reports what states think about EPA's practice of taking enforce-
ment actions (e.g. fines, orders to correct violations, and other
penalties) beyond those states have already taken against indi-
viduals, companies, and other entities who have violated environ-
mental laws. The process is known as overfiling.
EPA learned that while it has a very good relationship overall
with states, many states were critical of EPA overfiling. States
were especially concerned about EPA overfiling in the form of
fines levied against small municipalities, where states were
already attempting to bring about compliance. EPA's fines
sometimes deny a small town funds that could be better used to
help pay for compliance.
EPA overfiled 30 times, or on approximately 0.3% per year of
all Agency enforcement actions, during fiscal years 1992 to 1994.
While the percentage is small, and although EPA sometimes
intentionally initiates overfiling when a state fails to cite signifi-
cant prescribed penalties for violations, the overfiling process
represents an important concern to EPA's state customers. In
response EPA will consider ways to lower the number of
overfiling cases in the future.
Executive Correspondence - Public Access Survey
During the first year of the Clinton Administration, the executive correspondence at EPA
almost tripled. The total jumped from 45,000 in 1990 and 50,000 in 1992 to 125,000 in 1993. In
spite of this volume, the Office of Executive Secretariat has implemented several initiatives
which actually improved responsiveness to customers.
Extensive cross-training of staff has resulted in our internal customers receiving faster
assistance. Also, the cross-training will enable us to streamline the handling of mail within the
office so that assignment and routing of correspondence is done earlier in the process.
The Office has begun implementing a national tracking system which will reduce time-
wasting phone calls and will enable the staff of Executive Secretariat to respond immediately
to queries from customers about how their correspondence is being handled. The new system
is currently in the Office of Executive Secretariat, the Offices of the Administrator and Deputy
Administrator, two headquarters program offices, and Region 1.
Turnaround time for on category of high profile mail has dramatically improved-from an
average of four to six weeks to twelve working days. The streamlined procedures which
achieved this fast turnaround will be extended to other categories of correspondence in 1996.
The number of overdue items has been reduced by almost 50%, even though a larger
percentage of correspondence is being logged and tracked. Also, the items which are overdue
are fairly recent Two years ago, customers sometimes waited four to six months for replies.
Eighty-five percent of the current overdue list is overdue by only a few days.
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Additional Information
If you would like to receive additional copies of this plan, Putting Customers
First (EPA 230-B-95-004), please call the EPA Public Information Center at
(202) 260-7751, or write to the following address:
EPA Public Information Center
Mail Code, 3404
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460,
This document may also be accessed via Internet (GOPHER at
[gopher.epa.gov] or [http://www.epa.gov/oppe] on the World Wide Web).
If you have questions about EPA's customer service efforts you can contact
EPA at the telephone numbers listed below.
General Information
For general information on EPA's customer service efforts please call
(202) 260-5439
For e-mail inquiries, write to either of the following addresses:
SPYRES.JULIE@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV
FOSTER.JOHN@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV
Core Process Standards Information or Comments
PERMITTING (908)321-6782
PESTICIDE REGISTRATION (703) 305-6448
RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION GRANTS (202) 260-5767
RULEMAKING (202)233-9290
PUBLIC ACCESS (202)260-9709
STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL PROGRAM GRANTS (202) 260-2640
ENFORCEMENT INSPECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.... (202) 564-7014
VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS (202) 260-6904
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