NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE OOON87004
* Day Care Progress
* Smoking Policy
* Bicentennial of the Constitution
VOLUME 4
NUMBER 8
AUGUST 1987
Day Care Progress Smoking Policy: Here at Last
Ribbon-cutting for the Early
Environments Child Development
Center will take place Tuesday,
September 8 with a concert by the
EPA Band and Chorus under the
direction of Mary Mclnnis. Opening
date is the 14th... Alice Lazun, the
director, has degrees in early
childhood education,
developmental-clinical psychology
and nursing, and more than a decade
of experience teaching in and
directing child development centers...
About eighty-five percent of the
spaces are now committed; most
openings still available are for three
and four year-olds... The last
fundraiser brought in $27,000 and the
recent dance netted $5,200. More
events are planned for the summer
and fall... Both Jim Barnes and Lee
Thomas believe the Center is a vital
EPA initiative and thank all who have
labored so assiduously to bring it into
being.
The EPA Headquarters chapter of Women in
Science and Engineering (EPA/WISE) held its
seventh annual luncheon recently at Channel
Inn. From left, Dr. Yvonne Weber, Energy and
Wafer Resources Team, OFA; Fran Phillips,
guest speaker and Deputy Regional Administra-
tor, R-6; Rob Cahill, Associate Administrator jor
Regional Operations.
Pursuant to GSA regulations,
Morgan Kinghorn, Acting Assistant for
Administration and Resources
Management, has published the
long-awaited policy on smoking in
EPA facilities. Restrooms, certain
areas in cafeterias and other spaces
may be designated to permit smoking.
These areas will be provided with
signs and non-combustible ashtrays.
Exhaust from designated smoking
areas must be vented directly outside
the building. Smoking areas in
cafeterias will be selected so as to
minimize nonsmoker exposure. Signs
indicating that smoking is prohibited
except in designated areas will be
provided at entrances to space
controlled by EPA. Smoking areas may
not be designated in the following
locations:
• General office space occupied by
personnel performing their daily
functions, including but not limited to
private offices, open office space,
clerical pools, ADP areas, mail rooms,
file rooms, duplicating facilities, etc.
• Auditoria, classrooms and
conference rooms.
• Elevators, corridors and stairwells.
• Clinics and health units.
• Shuttle and other vehicles for
transporting EPA employees on
official business.
• Hazardous areas with flammable
liquids and gases or readily
combustible materials such as copy
centers, printing facilities and storage
areas.
• Libraries.
At Headquarters, the Director,
Occupational Health and Safety Staff,
is responsible for designating smoking
areas. Assistant and Associate
Administrators, the General Counsel,
the Inspector General and heads of
staff offices are responsible for
assuring compliance within their
organizational units. Senior
management officials outside
Headquarters are responsible for
designating smoking areas and
implementing the policy at their
locations. The Director, Occupational
Health and Safety Staff, is responsible
for developing this policy, supporting
it and following through.
Appeals for exceptions may be
made to officials responsible for
designating smoking areas, but will
only be granted in extraordinary or
unique circumstances. However, to
help the addicted overcome their
habit, EPA will coordinate, facilitate
and even fund smoking-cessation
programs for groups of employees
short of treatment and rehabilitation.
Smokers may also receive assistance
from the Agency's Employee
Counseling and Assistance Program
(ECAP). EPA is not permitted to fund
individual cessation initiatives,
(continued on page 2)
AGI Strikes Again!
Analysis Group, Inc. (AGI), which
won the Administrator's award for the
Outstanding Minority Business
Enterprise of 1986, continues to lead
the pack. In April this year AGI was
cited by the Small Business
Administration (SBA) as Mid-Atlantic
Regional Prime Contractor of the Year,
beating out hundreds of nominees
submitted by federal agencies.
Competing with the other nine
regional winners, AGI then earned
SBA's award as the National Small
Business Prime Contractor of the Year,
the first time a minority firm had ever
been so named.
AGI has gained international
renown for developing a
computerized decision-tree to assist
on-scene coordinators at the site of oil
(continued on page 2}
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Smoking—(Continued from front.J
medical or otherwise. Senior
management officials at all locations
are obliged to bargain with local
unions in the process of implementing
the policy, but are not authorized to
alter the substance of the regulations.
EPA officials believe this new
policy is tough, but reasonable,
considering the proven deleterious
effects of sidestream smoking for the
non-smoking majority, and the many
lost hours, lower productivity and
higher cost of illness among smokers.
Such regulations are consistent with
EPA's health leadership role in
American society, and were, in any
case, mandated by GSA as of February
6, 1987. They were developed only
after long consultation and negotiation
with the union and other employee
groups. Management is convinced that
the new regulations are equitable and
that most employees will adjust to
them in the proper spirit. During the
first six months, penalties for
noncompliance will be limited to
warnings and reprimands, and the
Agency will assess the need for
additional steps.
AGI—(Continued from front.}
spills and for other technical and
managerial innovations. The
decision-tree opens a new era in
sophisticated spill-response
technology. Reaction to the tree has
been enthusiastic, and the EPA Project
Officer has received numerous
unsolicited encomia regarding the
expertise, dedication and
professionalism exhibited by AGI
staff, and the fast turn-around and
quality of their emergency responses.
The company has served the
Federal Highway Administration, the
Departments of Energy and Defense,
the Agency for International
Development and the Federal
Aviation Administration, among
others, not to speak of state
governments, private industry and
several leading universities. Of its 55
professional staff, 40 have advanced
degrees, including 15 with Ph.Ds.
Program managers say they are
continually impressed by AGI's ability
to deliver exceptional services well
within budget and on schedule.
Smoking Policy—Is It Working?
The Headquarters Facilities
Management and Services Division
(FMSD) July meeting devoted
considerable time to complaints about
the new smoking policy and the
inconvenience of certain designated
smoking restrooms. In most cases, no
one has to walk up or down more
than one flight of stairs, but some said
the restrooms were too smoky. Nelson
Hallman (FMSD) said he would check
into the possibility of boosting
air-exhaust rates. A few days later a
petition to John Chamberlin with 225
signatures asked that smoking "be
worked out by individual offices," but
Early Bird Nest Egg
Federal and postal employees are
putting an average of $5 million per
day of their own money into the new
tax-deferred thrift investment
program. The interest rate changes
monthly: during April the fund paid 7
and 5/8ths, during May 8 and 3/8ths
and in June 8 and 5/8ths percent. As
of 1988 FERS people can split their
investments among the G-fund, a
guaranteed fund paying a flat rate, or
a stock fund whose rate is pegged to
market performance.
A civil servant earning $32,000 per
annum could have $1,400 more in his
tax-deferred savings plan at the end of
the year than a coworker who waits
until the last minute to convert from
GSRS. Actual amounts would depend
this approach could not protect health
in buildings like the Waterside
complex with 100-percent recirculated
air. Most observers think there will be
a high rate of voluntary compliance
with the policy because employees are
aware of the dangers of cigarette
smoke and because they helped draft
the policy. However, an initial
non-random survey by the Times
indicates that in not a few offices
conditions haven't changed
much—smokers are still puffing
blissfully away and non-smokers are
still fuming.
on salary and rate of contributions.
Workers under the FERS system can
invest as much as 10 percent of pay
(up to $7,000 this year). They can also
get government contributions to their
accounts of one percent for each one
percent they put in, up to 5 percent of
pay. Those who stay in the GSRS
program can contribute only 5 percent
of salary to the thrift plan and get no
matching payment.
Pension plan experts do not advise
federal or postal workers to make
decisions solely on the basis of the
thrift plan. But for those who have
already decided to convert to FERS,
an early move bears obvious tax and
investment advantages this year.
$The Real Cost of Office Automation
The rapid proliferation of personal
computers (PCs) in various
headquarters and regional offices
justifies a brief look at this historical
process. To many, equipment is the
essence of automation, but the real
costs must be measured in terms of
the time, money and labor invested in
designing and introducing new
procedures, including
• The time to define organizational
problems and determine if they can be
wholly or partially addressed through
automation.
• The cost of training employees to
use hardware and software, and
managers to supervise them.
• The cost of reorganizing work
stations and data flow.
• The cost of restructuring data and
data collection methods to
accommodate the inherent limitations
and advantages of computers.
The biggest burden, however, is
intellectual—changing the way we
think. Automation compels us to
reconceive means and ends. Being
forced to reexamine comfortable old
routines and deploy new ones
requires significant mental and
emotional energy. But as one wag
said, "it helps to know you have no
choice."
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Bicentennial of the
Constitution
Two centuries ago representatives of
the American states convened in
Philadelphia to junk the Articles of
Confederation, hoping to bring unity
and order out of post-colonial chaos.
During months of fierce argument and
compromise they drafted a new
national Constitution, and on
September 17, 1787, announced it to a
disbelieving world. But the skeptics
have been confounded.
No such plan of self-government
has ever lasted so long. None has
proven more resilient or a shrewder
means of governing multiethnic
societies operating on a continental
scale. Today, with its amendments,
the Constitution is the bulwark of our
liberties, without whose protections
no one would be safe. Our thanks to
the founding fathers and all their
successors who have labored to
perfect the U.S. Constitution, the most
influential political document in
human history!
OEA's Youth Program
The Office of External Affairs
conducted a series of weekly seminars
at EPA Headquarters throughout the
summer for 395 4-H Club delegates
and their leaders from all parts of the
nation. Under the direction of Peggy
Knight and Melba Meador, the Office
of Community and Intergovernmental
relations brought in speakers from
various program offices to address
participants on a range of
world-environmental and related
issues. The Public Information Center
provided packets of EPA publications
for background.
Books For Kids
In collaboration with Headquarters
Library, OEA's Office of Community
and Intergovernmental Relations has
produced an attractive brochure as
part of EPA's expanded youth
program. Entitled "Books for Young
People on Environmental Issues", the
brochure lists publications both by
grade level and subject, and is
available at the Headquarters Library
and the Public Information Center.
Delaware
Achiever
The winner of Region 3's
Environmental Achievement Award
for 1986 is Marjorie Crofts,
coordinator of Delaware's Inland Bay
environmental education program.
Crofts was selected from among 57
nominees because of her outstanding
program to enlighten citizens about
the importance of inland waterways.
The Delaware Department of Natural
Resources has long been concerned
about pollution threats to Rehoboth,
Indian River and Little Assawoman
Bays. Crofts developed innovative
workshops to alert Sussex County
children, teachers and parents to these
threats, giving them a sense of what
they can do pragmatically to help.
Workshops advised homeowners on
septic tanks, farm manure
management, chemical runoff, trash
disposal, tourism and diverse other
topics. Some 1200 students displayed
control projects and performed
environmental parodies and pasquils
at an Inland Bays Appreciation Day.
Crofts, 27, began working for the
state as an intern while earning her
A.M. Degree in Marine Policy.
Currently, she is Inland Bay education
program coordinator in the Division of
Water Resources.
Per Diem Rates Up
The General Services
Administration has granted some cost
relief to EPA travelers, especially
in the southern regions. As of
August 1, 1987, it has
• Raised the standard CONUS rate
from $50 to $60.
• Revised the way M&IE allowance is
paid on the first and last day of travel
to reimburse on a quarter-day basis.
• Increased per-diem rates for many
existing localities.
• Dropped itemization of M&IE
expenses when actual subsistence is
authorized for lodging only.
• Boosted the mileage reimbursement
rate for POVs from 20.5 to 21 cents.
For more information, contact your
local Senior Budget Officer,
Management Division Director,
Administrative Officer or Servicing
Financial Management Officer.
Thomas Gets
SEA Award
Lee Thomas received the Senior
Executive Association's Board of
Directors Award on July 15, 1987 for
his pursuit of excellence in federal
management. Specifically, he was
recognized for his efforts to assure the
full participation of career executives
in the Agency's decisionmaking
process and his emphasis on human
resources development. The award
has been presented in past years to
Senator John Warner, Representatives
Frank Wolf, Steny Hoyer and Vic
Fazio, and GSA Administrator
Terrence Golden. The employees of
EPA have long applauded the
Administrator for his down-to-earth
management style and concern for
their welfare.
GSA Product Hotline
The General Services
Administration provides EPA with
many items such as paper products,
office equipment, power tools and so
forth. If any of these items fails to work
properly GSA would like to know
about it. Call the Quality Hotline (FTS
557-1368; Commercial-703 prefix).
You can even file a formal complaint.
Your call will be recorded seven days
a week around the clock, but a real
person will get back to you within 24
hours. A specialist will follow up and
advise you of the action taken.
Losing Lard,
Living Longer
Medical scientists in Region 6 have
discovered a new 100-percent-
effective means of generating
depression. They just ask the
experimental subject to check out the
new computerized scales in their
health room. Not only does the new
machine weigh one with terrifying
accuracy, it bosses one around in the
process. "Stand still!" is one of its
favorite commands. "You can do
better!" is another. "You're a slob" it
goes on. Mary Hellen Worden, Health
and Safety Officer, admits the thing is
somewhat intimidating, but it helps
staff fight the battle of the bulge. For
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Excellence in Management Awards
Administrator Lee M. Thomas, at a recent headquarters ceremony, presented
the Excellence in Management Award to ten EPA employees. This award is
granted annually to employees in the Performance Management and
Recognition System whose reports facilitated major progress toward Agency
goals. This year's winners are: David Davis, Office of External Affairs (recently
transferred to the Office of Water); Harold Geren, Region 10; Anne Lindsay,
Office of Pesticide Programs; Hugh McKinnon, Office of Research and
Development; Linda Murphy, Region 1; David O'Connor, Office of
Administration and Resources Management; Thomas O'Farrell, Office of Water;
Susan Vogt, Office of Toxic Substances; Deanna Wieman, Region 9; and C.
Alvin Yorke, Region 8.
Living Longer—(continued from page 3)
those of us in Headquarters and
elsewhere who don't have talking
scales yet, the motivation for a higher
level of fitness will have to come from
within. That means aerobic exercise,
sufficient rest and proper diet, to wit
• Lay off the greasy kid-stuff. As
prophylaxis against heart disease and
cancer, no more than 30 percent of
your daily calories should come from
fats (animal or vegetable).
• Stash the shaker. The sodium in salt
and processed foods aggravates high
blood pressure. Limit sodium intake
to no more than 3,000 mg. a day. To
get an idea of how fast it adds up,
look at a typical soup can label.
• Terminate the twinkles. Satisfy your
sweet tooth with fruit instead of
garbage.
• Eat lots of fish, chicken breast,
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans,
peas, nuts, fibrous cereals and skim
milk.
• Big Mac, Go Back! Limit junk-food
attacks to once a week. Sample the
salad bar.
You, too, can be a centenarian!
(This country will have two million of
them by the year 2050.)
Phone Assistance
Customer Assistance in the
Headquarters Accounting Operations
Branch has installed a new telephone
answering system that will eliminate
busy signals, long ring-times and
unmanned lines. Calls are now
processed up to 30 percent faster and
during non-business hours are
answered with a tape asking one to
call back from 8-12 and 1-5. If you
have a question, call Customer
Assistance on 382-5116.
Maneuvering
Around Heimlich
The Heimlich maneuver we touted
in the June issue as the optimal
treatment for choking victims must
never be used in incidents of
near-drowning. Dr. James Orlowski of
the Cleveland Clinic has found that in
such cases it may cause the victim to
vomit and further block the air
passages, thus posing the risk of
gastric aspiration pneumonitis and
brain damage from oxygen
deprivation. One 10-year-old boy died
in these circumstances.
Intern Encomium
by Brian Fellows
Never having worked for the
government, I didn't really know what
to expect when I signed up as a
summer intern in the Office of
Congressional Liaison. However, I was
thrust into the job in medias res—the
best way to learn. My position
required me to attend House and
Senate hearings and mark-ups and
compile a report based on my
findings. Even my eight years of
university training did not entirely
prepare me for a task of such
complexity, but I thoroughly enjoyed
the experience. In fact, I feel honored
to have been selected. There were, of
course, as for any tyro, moments of
horseplay, e.g., when I was asked to
deliver a "vital document" from the
eighth level of the West Tower to the
remotest corner of the NE Mall. I felt
like the apprentice on the shop floor
who is sent to find a left-handed
monkey-wrench, but I made it over
and back in less than an hour!
Another notable aspect of the
summer was the experience of the
federal city itself. Those in charge of
the program arranged a great variety
of tours and speakers to acquaint us
with Washington and EPA programs.
Compared to other departments and
agencies, EPA interns are apparently
getting a much broader educational
experience. Many say that as a
consequence they would enjoy
working with the agency upon
graduation.
We certainly utilized a range of
skills—that gave us a real sense of
worth and validation. I hated to leave,
and I strongly recommend the EPA
intern program for other young
workaholics in the years ahead.
Painter of
American Rivers
Bill Painter was recently recognized
by American Rivers (AR), a leading
conservation group, for his many
years of outstanding service on the AR
Board of Directors. Painter was born
in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up
in that area. He graduated from Duke
University with a BS in biology, and
received an MS in Zoology from the
University of Michigan. From 1970 to
1973, he served as director of the
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Washington Ecology Center, and then
accepted an offer to become the
executive director of the burgeoning
American Rivers Conservation
Council. His accomplishments were
many, but one stands out—his
advocacy on behalf of the New River
in North Carolina, then threatened by
a pumped-storage project. As a
result of Painter's labors, a 26-mile
stretch of the New River became a
National Wild and Scenic River in
1976.
Departing the Council, Painter
haunted the halls of Congress on
behalf of a number of activist groups,
including the Natural Resources
Defense Council, where he headed the
toxic waterwatch project, and
Defenders of Wildlife. He is currently
working on water issues with OPPE.
He and his wife, Kathy, live on
Capitol Hill with their two children,
Kierstan, 18, and Emily, 8.
Choosing Your
Retirement System
Between July 1 and December 31,
1987, EPA employees hired before
1984 will have a one-time opportunity
to choose between two retirement
systems: the Civil Service Retirement
System (CSRS), which covers them
now, and the Federal Employees
Retirement System (FERS), designed
for employees hired after 1983.
CSRS provides all of its benefits
from one source: the CSRS annuity
fund into which you pay seven
percent of your base annual income,
not including overtime pay. CSRS also
allows employees to invest up to five
percent of their pay in the new thrift
savings plan. Both the amount
contributed and any earned interest
are tax-deferred until they are
withdrawn, but there is no
government matching payment.
While a CSRS annuity can be as
much as 80 percent of the three years
of highest salary, 30-year annuities
generally average 56 percent. Annual
cost of living adjustments (COLAs)
equal the cost of inflation and protect
retiree buying power.
FERS provides benefits from three
different sources: social security (SS),
a basic benefit plan and the thrift
savings plan. Under FERS, the
combined cost of basic benefits and
SS equals seven percent of pay.
Employees also can invest up to 10
percent of their base pay in the thrift
savings plan, and government
contributes as much as five percent
more. Even if an employee puts
nothing into the thrift plan,
government will contribute one
percent of salary.
FERS allows employees to retire
earlier (age 55 with 10 years' service)
with a reduced annuity (five percent
less for each year an employee
receives benefits before age 62). For
example, someone retiring at age 55
would get 35 percent less. Under
FERS, COLAs don't begin until age 62
and are one percent less than the rate
of inflation, if and only if inflation is
three percent or more per annum. If
inflation is less than three percent,
you get no COLA. (CSRS-covered
employees who transfer to FERS can
take advantage of the early retirement
option and receive full COLAs on the
portion of their benefit earned under
CSRS.)
Are you within 10 years of
retirement? CSRS may be better if you
plan to retire at age 55 with 30 years
of service or age 60 with 20 years of
service. CSRS offers a more generous
annuity plus full COLA at an earlier
age (55 vs. 62 under FERS). The FERS
COLA is generally one percent less
than inflation, as stated above.
CSRS may be a wiser choice if
earning additional SS credits isn't
important to you. You may already
have enough credits to qualify for
benefits, or have so few credits that
you have no expectation of ever
receiving SS benefits, or you may plan
to supplement your CSRS check by
qualifying for SS after retirement.
FERS may be preferable if you have
five or more years of SS coverage—but
not the full 10 years generally
required for benefits. Joining FERS
enables you to get a return on the SS
taxes you already have paid.
Otherwise, if you don't complete your
10 years under FERS or elsewhere,
you will lose funds already paid in SS
taxes.
FERS may also be a better choice in
these three cases:
• You want to retire before age 55 but
won't have 30 years of service. FERS
allows you to retire at age 55 with as
few as 10 years of service, but with a
reduced annuity. Under this early
retirement option, you can also
receive your (reduced) CSRS-derived
portion of benefits earlier than would
be possible under CSRS per se.
• You have close to 42 years of
service and plan to work a few extra
years. The CSRS maximum 80 percent
benefit is reached after 41 years and
11 months of service. Since FERS has
no maximum, those at or close to the
CSRS maximum could earn additional
benefits by transferring to FERS.
• You plan to work until a rather
advanced retirement age. FERS can
provide more valuable benefits in this
case. The retirement value of your
Thrift Plan account increases with age
as your account balance grows and
the number of years diminishes before
you will be retired. Under FERS,
government matching payments make
the Thrift Plan a bigger chunk of your
overall benefit.
Are you far from retirement age?
Many employees who are 20 years or
more from retirement don't know
whether they will retire from the
federal government. Others already
contemplate shifting to the private
sector. In either situation FERS may be
the wiser choice: SS is portable. Thrift
Plan earnings can be left to
accumulate or transferred either into a
personal individual retirement
account (IRA) or a pension plan set
up by your new employer.
If you leave federal service and
request a refund of your contributions,
FERS pays you market-rate interest.
By contrast, CSRS generally pays no
interest. FERS also offers greater
adaptability and portability.
If you are sure you will remain in
government until retirement, CSRS
maybe better. Not only does it offer a
higher annuity than the FERS basic
benefit and social security combined,
but it allows unreduced COLAs at an
earlier age. Should you leave
government, request a refund and
then return to federal service, CSRS
allows you to make a full
refund—with an interest charge. FERS
offers no such provisions.
For those with between 5 and 15
years until retirement, the FERS
Transfer Handbook is the best source
of information about the pros and cons
of transferring or remaining in CSRS.
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One of Us
A Little Stiff from Wheeling
by Lee Blackburn, Region 3
Biker Zickler
No, he's not short and
he's not from West Virginia.
He's Mike Zickler, a Region
3 senior on-scene coordina-
tor (OSC) who gets sore
muscles from wheeling his
bike to work from Moores-
town, N.J.
Zickler, who began his
EPA career as a permit writ-
er in Chicago (Region 5),
saddles up every day, wea-
ther permitting, for the pure
delight of the ride. "I'm not
into equipment the way
some people are. I guess I'm
more of a schlepper." He
says it takes longer to get to
work than driving, but his
metabolism has become
more efficient. "You can
drink more chocolate malts
and still not add those extra
pounds. Plus you get the
convenience and you don't
face the hassle of parking a
car and shelling out hard-
earned cash for the pri-
vilege."
Like the rest of us, Zick-
ler had a bike in junior
high, but hadn't ridden one
for years. Then, one day,
heading into the Loop in
downtown Chicago, he
noticed the endless streams
of cyclists negotiating the
bike paths alongside the
road. That got him started
and he's been on two
wheels ever since. As an
environmentalist, he thinks
it only natural that EPA
should encourage em-
ployees to bike to work.
"You can't deny it's energy
efficient," he asserts.
What began as a personal
preference has become a
cause. For the past several
years Zickler has been an
activist in the Bicycle Coali-
tion of Delaware Valley, a
Philadelphia-area group of
people who get to work
under their own power. He
has pushed a coalition
effort to intensify recycling.
"Broken glass, lumber, old
tires, pop cans, gravel drop-
ped from uncovered
dumptrucks—all are over-
looked by motorists but are
real hazards to the cyclist,"
he noted. "The coalition
firmly supports bottle bills
because they will help get
the broken glass off the
roads and shoulders."
The coalition gives an an-
nual "Cycle and Recycle"
award; the latest was pre-
sented to the Clean Air
Council of the Delaware
Valley. The coalition is also
behind efforts to get truck
tarpaulin bills passed. Zick-
ler observes that sand,
rocks, gravel and other de-
bris often fly off trucks and
accumulate on the shoul-
ders, forcing cyclists into
traffic and even causing
painful spills. "One of these
days somebody is going to
get killed."
Zickler recently finished
a stint as OSC in the
Allegheny National Forest
and that kept him in his car
a lot. But he's still the
designated bicycle coordi-
nator for Region 3. He
worked with the EPA Em-
ployees'Association in a
successful effort to get
showers and bike lockers
installed in the basement of
the building that houses Re-
gion 3 headquarters. These
facilities are far from per-
fect, however, and not
many people know of them.
Ofttimes, Zickler says, staf-
People
fers just "tether their
mounts between desks and
file cabinets." But then, no-
body has ever accused bik-
ers of an excess of stuff-
shirted formality. Indeed,
their general rule seems to
be aequam servare mentum
(keep your cool).
The coalition is also
working to upgrade access
to the bridges that connect
New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania, distributing maps of
the Delaware Valley show-
ing the least suicidal bike
routes, lobbying for more
bike paths and promoting
the health and fitness angle
through the media. Mean-
while, Zickler is enjoying
the current spell of
salubrious summer weather
in the region. He'll keep
biking until the Delaware
freezes over.
Retirees
Headquarters
William Fox, 36 years
Allan Clark, 30 years
Ralph Turpin, 30 years
James Ewing, 26 years
Mary Cusata, 33 years
Louis Kasza, 15 years
Margaret Rymsza, 25 years
Walter Muelken, 32 years
William Colony, 29 years
Richard Solomon, 31 years
Carlos Rodriguez, 20 years
Region 2
Rita Scariato, 25 years
Region 10
Charles Bradac, 27 years
Patricia Sugiura, 20 years
Las Vegas
Marlin Tagatz, 32 years
Mary Baker, 23 years
Wesley Smith, 22 years
Richard Park, 34 years
Research Triangle Park
Stanley Richard, 23 years
William Robertson, 20 years
Special Act Awards
Administration and Resources
Management
Allan Clark, Jackye Seldon,
William Forrest, Robert
Swiatkowski, Gerald Yetter,
Geneva Gillespie and Kerry
Weiss
Pesticides and Toxic Substances
Mary Goldring, Lawrence
Culleen, David Kling,
Robert McNally, Susan
Olinger, Stephen Schana-
mann, Terence Stanuch,
Anita Frankel and Charles
Auer
Water
Arnetta Davis
Office of the Inspector General
Garrette Clark, Joseph Kru-
ger, Karen Garnett, Anna
Hackenbracht, Lynn Luderer,
James Ewing, and
William Colony
Sustained Superior
Performance Awards
Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Monitoring
Brenda Harris and
Jacqueline Cherry
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$21 Million Contract for Minority Firm
EPA has approved a $21.5 million contract for Williams,
Russell and Johnson, Inc. (WRJ) headquartered in Atlanta,
Georgia. This is the largest prime contract the Agency has
awarded to a minority-owned and operated firm in
support of the Superfund Remedial Response Program. It's
the first of several large Superfund contracts to be granted
to minority businesses and was achieved through the
collaborative efforts of the Office of Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization, the Hazardous Site
Control Division and the Procurement and Contracts
Management Division.
The prime contractor will be assisted by three other
minority entrepreneurs: D.C. Johnson and Malhotra, P.C. of
Silver Spring, Maryland; AEPCO, Inc. of Bethesda,
Maryland; and Geoscience Consultants, LTD of
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Together they will provide
technical and engineering services for site management,
remedial investigations, feasibility studies and design of
remedial actions at abandoned hazardous waste disposal
sites in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
New Communications Order
At the Baltimore forum, one concept embraced by each
theme group was improved communications. OEA has
consequently developed an order for the EPA Directives
System, recently approved by the Administrator, which
outlines an upgraded, three-part process for
communications strategy development. Henceforth, the
Agency will undertake community consultation well
before a significant decision is made or action taken,
notification of the public before major actions or policies
are implemented, and follow-up to ensure EPA continues
to listen to the people. The Office of External Affairs has
set up a communications plan to ensure this broader
public role in EPA decision-making, utilizing the
Consultation/Negotiation/Consensus-building (CMC]
protocol developed at the Forum.
The new procedures require an annual communications
plan from each AA and RA outlining communications
needs in relation to program priorities, and coordinated
with annual operating guidance, workload modeling,
SPMS measures, performance-standards setting and travel
budgeting. These activities must be joined so that
programs can routinely incorporate consultation and
negotiation into daily operations.
Lee Thomas declared that the order amplifies and
reinforces the Agency's "fish bowl" policy. It will help
ensure that EPA managers and staff stay accessible to
members of the public with various points of view, and
involve clienteles actively in the decision process.
Whereas some additional travel or time may be needed to
jump-start communication at the front end, consistent and
well-planned efforts can obviate protracted debate,
misunderstanding and litigation by increasingly
sophisticated constituencies. For the first time in EPA
history, a complete system for effective public
communication is in place.
Region 7 welcomes its new IBM computer (the Logical
Mainframe). Pictured at the ribbon-cutting ceremony are (1. to r.J:
Don Fulford, Director, NationaJ Computer Center at RTF; Ed
HanJey, Director, Office of Information Resource Management,
Headquarters; Regional Administrator Morris Kay; Assistant
Regional Administrator Susan Gordon; Wiilis Greenstreet,
Director of Administration at RTF; and Paul Hirth and David
Flora, Region 7 ADP staff.
Little Risk in Methanol
The Health Effects Institute (HEI) has released a report
concluding that vapor emissions of methanol-fueled
automobiles do not pose unreasonable risks to public
health, but calling for additional research. The report,
entitled MethanoJ Vapors and Human Health: An
Evaluation of Existing Scientific Information and Issues
for Future Research, was prepared by HEI's Health
Research Committee at the request of EPA. The committee
was chaired by Dr. Walter A. Rosenblith, Institute
Professor and recent Provost at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
EPA requested the study pursuant to the Clean Air
Act, which directs EPA to ensure that any new technology
affecting mobile-source emissions will not pose an
"unreasonable risk to public health." The report evaluates
the health consequences of the inhalation of methanol
exhaust or vapors emitted during self-service refueling.
Researchers found that "methanol fuel, under intended
conditions of use, does not pose an unreasonable risk to
the public health...Concerns about methanol vapor should
not prevent government and industry from encouraging
the development and use of methanol fuels, assuming that
is in the public interest."
Although the available evidence indicates that chronic
exposure to low levels is not likely to trigger known
mechanisms of methanol toxicity, the report notes that
data are insufficient to eliminate entirely the possibility of
adverse effects over the long term. Emissions from
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raethanol-fueled vehicles can be expected to produce
ambient concentrations of pollutants lower than those
resulting from combustion in gasoline or diesel engines,
but may slightly raise exposure to formaldehyde,
unregulated in this context.
HEI is a non-profit corporation funded equally by EPA
and 26 automotive manufacturers and marketers in the
United States. Copies of the report may be obtained from
the Health Effects Institute, 215-First Street, Cambridge,
MA, 02142, 617/491-2926.
Alky Fuels Get the Go-Ahead
The President's Task Force on Regulatory Relief has
recommended that methanol, ethanol and compressed
natural gas be exploited to upgrade air quality and cut
dependence on foreign sources of oil. Ethanol is distilled
from grain; methanol can be derived from natural gas, coal
or wood. Alternative fuels could enable many cities to
meet the legal deadline for reducing pollution to statutory
levels without resorting to such draconian measures as
staggered driving days or banning cars from business
districts. Such fuels do not contribute to ozone or carbon
monoxide pollution and are potentially abundant and
price-stable.
The task force announced that GSA would buy at least
5,000 flexible-fuel vehicles, capable of burning the two
alcohol fuels and natural gas as well as gasoline, starting
perhaps as early as next spring. The Department of
Transportation will undertake similar demonstration
projects with compressed natural gas for buses.
Other recent indications of interest: California has
entered into an agreement with fuel distributors to market
methanol at no fewer than 75 filling stations within the
next three years. A bill is pending in the Legislature to
order the marketing of methanol vehicles. Colorado
recently mandated an alcohol mix in fuels for the Denver
metropolitan area in order to cut carbon monoxide.
Legislation recently introduced in Congress would amend
the Clean Air Act to encourage alternative fuels. Ford,
General Motors and Chrysler are developing flexible-fuel
vehicles; some Ford types are already on the road. Iowa
has ordered the use of ethanol-blended fuels in all state
government vehicles to boost the market for corn.
Air Pollution Follow-up
During an appearance before the House Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations, Administrator Lee
Thomas was asked to provide follow-up on certain classes
of air pollution. Managers will be interested in his reply,
which, delayed by the editor because of space limits,
follows in condensed paraphrase.
About 3000 hazardous waste treatment, storage and
disposal facilities (TSDF) nationwide emit a total of 1.5
million metric tons per year of volatile organic compounds
(VOC). This is 7 percent of total national VOC emissions
in 1985 of 21.3 million tons. VOC emissions from
municipal waste combustion are estimated to be 3,400
metric tons per year (about 0.02 percent of the national
total).
VOC emissions from Publicly-Owned Treatment Works
(POTWs) are changing rapidly due to pre-treatment
regulations for industrial dischargers (which reduce
emissions from POTWs but may boost emissions at
industrial wastewater-treatment facilities) and restrictions
on land disposal of hazardous wastes (which may elevate
discharges to POTWs). EPA has estimated that once the
pretreatment standards are in effect, air emissions of 129
potentially toxic VOCs from the nation's 24,000 POTWs
will be about 30,000 metric tons per year. Over 95 percent
of this amount comes from the 1,600 major POTWs. Air
emissions from industrial wastewater-treatment plants may
significantly exceed the amount from POTWs. Current
emissions of total VOC from POTWs would be much
greater than 30,000 metric tons per year, but no good
estimate of this figure is available....
EPA has a major effort underway to develop regulations
for TSDFs under the authority of section 3004(n) of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. A large number
of technical reports and data have been generated as part of
this effort. The first group of TSDF regulations was
recently proposed...
EPA is presently assembling a great deal of information
on municipal waste combustion (MWC) facilities for
inclusion in the report to Congress required by section 102
of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This report,
scheduled for release within the next few months, will be
comprehensive, with technical data on design and
operation, emissions, control technology and costs, and
research needs. The report will also include an assessment
methodology and estimates of health risk for existing and
projected municipal waste combustors. Partial emissions
data on some 36 pollutants have been reported for MWC
facilities...
EPA is performing a risk analysis to help determine
whether the rapid movement toward incineration of
municipal solid waste represents a potential public health
problem and whether it should be encouraged. This issue
will also be addressed in the context of the Agency
commitment to issue a decision on whether MWC
emissions or specific constituents should be regulated
under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. If so, EPA will
specify a schedule for regulatory action at the same time.
EPA has a compliance program to assure that
incinerators are meeting current regulations. Our guidance
requires an annual inspection of the largest incinerators
and mandates that if violations are found they stop within
120 days. Most of this activity is performed at state and
local levels with EPA oversight—or with direct action if
the state or local agency fails to move.
Additionally, in order to tighten compliance efforts and
raise the compliance level of existing MWCs, EPA has
developed an MWC Inspection Manual for use by
enforcement officers and inspectors (state/local or
regional). It also provides new inspectors with an
up-to-date description of the entire MWC operation...
The Administrator was also asked to explain the legality
of certain state task force recommendations to mandate the
use of oxygenates in gasoline for carbon monoxide control.
He replied that EPA is currently studying the propriety of
a state-mandated oxygenated fuels strategy in light of the
section 211 (c)(4) preemption provision.
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