OOON92004
June 1992
NEWS FOR, ABOUT, AND BY
President to Attend "Earth Summit"
U.S. Prevails in Climate Treaty Language
by Dick Morgenstern, Acting Assistant Administrator, OPPE
P
resident Bush is scheduled to
arrive in Rio de Janeiro in mid-
June to attend the U.N.
Conference on Environment and
Development, popularly known as the
"Earth Summit." The President will
join more than 140 other heads of state to sign a
series of non-binding treaties on pollution prevention
and resource conservation. With over 8,000
participants expected, this event may well be the
largest top-level political gathering in history, as well
as the biggest United Nations conference.
The most complex and controversial negotiations
leading up to the conference involved the drafting of
the global climate treaty. The U.S. position was that
the treaty should limit greenhouse gas emissions
without specific targets or timetables and it should
require national action plans appropriate to each
nation. This position was agreed to last month after
15 months of negotiations.
Update on 90-Day
Moratorium and Review
Last January the Administration asked all Federal agencies
to undertake a 90-day review of their regulations and
programs. The purpose of this review was to speed up
initiatives that would eliminate unnecessary regulatory
burdens or promote economic growth. The Agency recently
completed the Report To The President On The 90-Day Review of
Regulations. In the report, EPA commits to 88 actions that will
reduce the costs of complying with environmental regulations
by $4 to 8 billion per year without harming the environment.
EPA will be implementing these actions over the coming
months.
The Administration has extended the moratorium on
certain new regulations for an additional 120 days.
The treaty, which
President Bush called
a "historic step," is
subject to modification
as more is learned
about the extent and
effects of global cli-
mate change. This
provision has a
precedent in the
Montreal Protocol,
the international agreement limiting ozone-
depleting substances, which was recently modified
to reflect new information on the extent of ozone
loss. Modifications to the global climate treaty
would be based on the best available scientific,
technical, social, and economic information. The
U.S. and other developed countries have agreed to
take the lead in implementing the treaty and in
providing financial assistance for projects that would
fulfill its specific terms.
In February 1991, the U.S. hosted the first
negotiation session on the climate treaty in Chantilly,
Virginia. Negotiations were concluded at the United
Nations in New York early last month.
Inside
Heads Up
In the News
1992 Awards Announced
Classifieds
On the Hill
TQM
Calendar
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed on paper that contains
at least 50% recycled liber
-------
Nancy Bauer
Up
A QUICK LOOK AT EPA NEWS AROUND THE NATION
EPA LABORATORIES
/ Environmental Research Lab, Duliith—ERL-D is
conducting and supporting research to determine
how "invading" species brought into a new
ecosystem, such as the zebra mussel in the Great
Lakes, interact with vulnerable ecosystems and what
effects this interaction produces. The research is in
response to the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance
Prevention and Control Act of 1990. (Contact: Dave
Yount, FFS-218-720-5752)
/ EPA, Cmcimiati—ln 1989, EPA-Cinci established
its prestigious "Secretary of the Year"
Award. Sponsored by the local Secretarial
Advisory Council, the honor includes a
$1,000 cash award. The 1992 winner is
Nancy Bauer from the Environmental
Criteria Assessment Office (ORD).
(Contact: Cindy Bultman, SAC Chair,
FTS-513-569-7905, STEVENS.ALAN)
^ National Air and Radiation Environmental Lab,
Montgomeiy—Last month, representatives of 22
countries met at NAREL to continue their work on
the Global Environmental Radiation Monitoring
(GERMON) Program. GERMON was initiated in
1987 in response to the nuclear accident in Cherno-
byl. The meeting was sponsored by the World
Health Organization, the United Nations
Environment Programme, the Pan American Health
Organization, and EPA's Office of International
Activities and Office of Radiation Programs.
(Contact: Dr. Charles Petko, FrS-205-270-3411)
/ EPA, Las Vegas—The Treasury Department
recently presented its first annual "Vanguard Award"
to Alan Lewis, Director of EPA's Financial
Management Center in Las Vegas. For developing a
cost-effective alternative to Treasury's Letter of
Credit payment system, Alan—along with Eileen
Brasier, Paula McElroy, Shelly Norland, Kechi
Slocum, and Thomas Wilson—also received
Treasury's Award for "Distinction in Financial
Management Improvements," which included a cash
award. (Contact: Bill English, FES-202-260-3317)
/ Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Lab,
RTF—Philadelphia has been selected to he the first
of six major metropolitan areas in which human
exposure to aerosol acidity will be studied (the
remaining areas have not yet been selected). I lealth
assessment studies of respiratory illness and daily
death rates will also be conducted. The results of
these studies, which began last month, could lead to a
National Air Quality Standard for aerosol acidity.
(Contact: William Wilson, ETS-919-541-2551,
\VILSON.VVILLIAAI)
EPA REGIONS
/ Region 3—Christine Chulick, a Superfund
Remedial Project Manager, is working on a project to
recycle hazardous waste. This project is the first of
its kind for Superfund in two ways: instead of
transferring the waste off site, Region 3 is proposing
to construct a recycling facility on site (Hometown,
PA). .And once recycled, the waste product would be
sold to manufacturers. (Contact: Christine Chulick,
FFS-215-597-8186)
/ Region 5—EPA's 850-ton vessel, Lake Guardian,
is monitoring toxicants and nutrients in all five Great
Lakes for the first time during its spring survey cruise.
The vessel began its spring cruise in March and is
scheduled to return to port by July 3. (Contact: John
Rapsys, FFS-312-553-6693)
/ Region 6—"Evac-Chairs" were recently installed
and assigned to individual Assistance Monitors on
each floor of the regional office. In an emergency, the
chairs will help disabled employees evacuate the
building. A five-minute demonstration video is
available on request. (Contact: Jerry Stokley, FTS-
214-655-6560)
/ Region 8 — Together with the Air Force, Region 8
has developed a training course that will be presented
in every EPA region during FY 1992. Entitled "Air
Forcc/EPA's Team Approach to Environmental
Clean L'p and Risk Communication," the course aims
at educating employees on the technical, legal, and
community involvement aspects of CERCLA
(Superfund). (Contact: Marilyn Null, FFS-303-294-
1141)
/ Region 10—On June 5, Idaho is expected to
become the only state in the Pacific Northwest to
administer the "corrective action" program, the
federally-mandated effort to clean up contamination
at facilities that manage hazardous waste. According
to Regional Administrator Dana Rasmussen, "Idaho
should be proud. Only seven other states in the
country have been given this authority." (Contact:
Mark Masarik, FFS-208-334-9506)
EPA InSight • June 1992
-------
In the News
Cooling Our Communities
Tucson, Arizona has become the first
community to sign up for the new, voluntary
Cool Communities Program jointly
sponsored by EPA and American Forests. The
program is designed to encourage the planting of
trees to shade buildings and the use of light colors to
reflect sunlight. These actions will help reduce the
"urban heat island effect," which can raise the
temperatures of many cities 2 to 8 degrees 1'' higher
than their rural surroundings. "Urban heat islands"
result in increased use of electricity for air
conditioning and higher smog levels.
U.S. Department of Energy research has shown
that planting trees and shrubs next to buildings can
reduce summer air conditioning costs by 15 to 35
percent. Using light surface colors has the potential
for even greater energy savings. In March, EPA,
DOE, and the Electric Power Research Institute
published a guidebook, "Cooling Our Communities,"
which describes the benefits of these measures and
explains how they can be implemented.
EPA and American Eorests will work with up to
seven communities to implement the measures from
the guidebook. In addition to Tucson, four other
communities have already signed on: Frederick,
Maryland, Austin, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and
Dade County, Elorida.
American Eorests will work with city officials,
utilities, local businesses, and citizen groups to
voluntarily plant trees and lighten surfaces. The seven
model communities will implement the measures
over a five-year period and measure the energy
savings and temperature reductions. Once the model
program is in place about a year from now, Cool
Communities will be expanded to other
municipalities.
Eor more information, contact Joel Smith, OPPE,
FrS-202-260-9655.
New Risk Assessment Policy
Set by EPA's Risk Assessment Forum
fa/fredS/osser, ORD
EPA's Risk Assessment Eorum recently
established a significant new policy for the
Agency on assessing human health risks
from environmental exposure to chemicals.
Based on an extensive scientific review, the Eorum
recommends for the first time that agency risk
assessors not use animal data under specific
conditions for trying to predict whether certain
chemicals may pose a cancer hazard for humans.
'I'he Forum's report is based on studies that found
chemically-induced kidney tumors in male rats.
Some of these tumors apparently resulted from a
series of physiological processes that are not known to
occur in the female rat or any other animal
species. Consequently, these findings probably are
not relevant for trying to determine whether such
compounds pose a human cancer risk, according to
the report.
The Risk Assessment Forum is composed of
experts from EPA who develop scientific analyses,
guidelines, and methodology for the Agency. The
panel's reports are extensively peer-reviewed by
scientists from other agencies, acadeinia, scientific
organizations, and private industry.
For copies ot the report, "Alpha 2u-globulin:
Association of Chemically Induced Renal Toxicity
and Neoplasia in the Male Rat" (EPA/62 5/3-91/019F),
please call the ORD Publications Office, ITS-513-
569-7562.
Don't Forget!
If you want to read EPA InSight on Email,
just type VTX when the Email menu is
on your screen, press the Enter key,
then type 2 and press Enter. Enjoy!
EPA InSight • June 1992
-------
1992 Awards Announced
\991
ee M.Thomas
Excellence in
Management
Kwards
EPA was the first agency to
establish this prestigious award,
which was authorized by Congress
in 1984. The purpose of the award
is to recognize supervisors and
managers whose vision and
leadership skills have produced
major results for the Agency.
This year the Administrator
selected 17 winners:
REGIONS
Region 1 Larry Brill
Water Management Division
Region 2 Kevin Bricke
Water Management Division
Region 3 Marcia Spink
Air, Radiation and Toxics Division
Region 5 Elissa Speizman
Planning and Management Division
Region 8 Melvern McCottry
Policy and Management Division
Region 9 Laura Yoshii
Hazardous Waste Management Division
Region 10 Ronald Kreizenbeck
Water Division
LABORATORY
Ann Arbor Gay McGregor
Certification Division
HEADQUARTERS
Office of the Administrator Diane Bazzle
Office of Administration and Resources Management
Sherry Kaschak
Office of Enforcement Pat Alberico
Office of the Inspector General (Region 3)
Paul Gandolfo
Office of Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances
Kathleen Knox
Office of Research and Development
Jay Benforado
Candace Castillo
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Arthur Weissman
Office of Water EphraimKing
For more information on this award, please contact: Joe
Sullivan, OARM, FTS-202-260-3311.
EPK'S \991
Contract
Management
Kwards
At the third annual Contract
Management Awards ceremony
last month, Deputy Administrator
Hank Habicht presented
"Outstanding Contract
Management" Awards to:
Captain Gene Smith, OAR/RTP
For establishing a contracts infrastructure that would help
EPA comply with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1991.
John Gibson, OARM/RTP
For outstanding performance in managing the Agency's
mainframe systems contract and the management and
application of the GSA Exchange/Sale procedures.
Vicki Bailey, OARM/HQ
For establishinga support group for technical contractmanagm
and for outstanding performance as a project officer.
The Deputy Administrator also presented
"Superior Contract Management" Awards to:
Nancy Barmakian, Sharon Hayes, and Diane
Kelley, Region 1
For piloting and implementing the transition from FIT
(Field Investigative Team) contracts to ARCS (Alternate
Remedial Contracting Strategy) contracts.
Linda Garwood and Debra Morey, Region 7
For developing, refining, and implementing numerous
contract management procedures in the ARCS program.
For morn information on this award, please contact Sztsan
Sawler, OARM, FTS-202-260-9476.
EPAlnSight • June 1992
-------
Management, Contracts,
Pollution Prevention
Bill Reilly with project coordinators for the Administrator's Awards
for Pollution Prevention, Priscilla Flattery and Carol Singer
For the second year in a row,
this award program has heen a hit
with the public. Last year EPA
received about 500 applications;
this year, 840. On May 13, the
Administrator announced 17
winners:
1992
I Administrator's
Awards for
Pollution
Prevention
Environmental, Non-Profit, Community,
and Trade Organizations
INFORM, Inc., New York, NY
North Carolina Alternative Energy Corporation
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Center
for the Environment, and Alaska Dept. of
Environmental Conservation
Small and Large Business
Kryptonics, Inc., Boulder, CO
Statler Tissue Company, Augusta, ME
Chrysler Corporation, I lighland Park, MI
IBM Corporation, San Jose, CA
Mead Packaging, Atlanta, GA
Eastman Chemical Company, Texas Eastman
Division, Longview, TX
Local, State, and Federal Governments
Bourne, Plymouth, and Wareham Planning Boards, MA
County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, CA
Municipal Utilities, Osage, IA
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
North Carolina Department of Economic and
Community Development
U.S. Air Eorce, Fairchild Air Force Base, \VA
U.S. Navy, Warminster, PA
Educational Institution
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University,
Blacksburg, VA
For more information on these awards, please contact
Carol Singer, OCEPA, FTS-202-260-4454.
Classifieds
ROTATION/Full-Time
IIQ/OPPTS—Excellent temporary assignments
available in support of 33/50 Program. Employees
with good analytical and "people" skills needed to
encourage companies to make voluntary
commitments in pollution prevention; facilitate flow
of information on technical and institutional
approaches to pollution prevention; and coordinate
efforts with other EPA programs, Regions, states, and
non- governmental organizations. Please call Lee
DePont, I'TS-202-260-9499.
RESOURCES/Outside EPA
Graduate Students—If you need research/studies
done on any of the Agency's priority environmental
and management issues, then the National Network
for Environmental Management Studies (NXEAIS)
Program may be the answer. About 150 universities
participate in this program. Please call Ginger
Wandless, OCEPA, FTS-202-260-5960.
To list notices of rotations and resources, please contact your
Editorial Board Member (see last page) or Editor Kym
Burke, FTS-202-260-0336, BURKE.KYM.
EPAlnSigbt • June 1992
-------
On the Hill
by Robin Grove, OCLA
HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
RCRA
Senate — On May 20, the Environment and Public-
Works Committee (Chairman Quentin Burdick, D-
ND) completed markup of RCRA and reported out a
bill by a vote of 12-5. Senators Chafee (R-RI) and
Warner (R-VA) voted for the bill, while registering
reservations to some of its provisions. The major
components of the bill include bans on interstate
waste transport, recycling goals for industry, and an
expansion of the Toxics Release Inventory.
Superfund
Senate — The Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Superfund (Chairman Frank
Lautenberg, D-NJ) intends to hold a hearing in
earlyjune on Superfund liability issues. Don Clay,
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and
Emergency Response, will testify.
Dioxin
House — On June 10, the Government Operations
Subcommittee cm Human Resources and Intergov-
ernmental Relations (Chairman Ted Weiss, D-XY)
will hold a hearing on dioxin concerning human health
effects and a reassessment of risk. William H. Farland,
Director of the Health and Environmental Assessment
Office, and Dr. Linda Birnbaum, Director of the
Environmental Toxicology Division, will testify.
Contract Management
House — In early July, the Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
(Chairman John Dingell, D-MI) will hold a hearing
on die final report of the Standing Committee on
contract management. Administrator Bill Reilly has
been requested to testify.
EPA's Legislative Library—
Where Customer Service is No Act
it ii
jjjjtu?^. jjjfiik
The Office of Congressional and Legislative
Affairs has relocated its Legislative Library to
convenient new quarters. Pat Quinn, OCLA's
Associate Administrator, is encouraging all employees
to check it out! The staff provides a wide range of
services that are available to employees Agency-wide:
S abstracts the Congressional Record each day
Congress is in session ajid maintains a mailing list
for these abstracts;
/ collects and maintains Congressional documents,
including reference materials and periodicals;
/ develops lists and reports on the status of
pending legislation;
/ prepares legislative histories;
/ using Legi-Slate, a powerful on-line database,
trades the status of current legislation.
The library is open Monday through Friday from
9 AM to 5 PM (EOT) and is located in room 243 9M. If
you have any questions, please call Joan Flatten or
Pamela Abraham, FTS-202-260-5425.
EPAlnSight • June 1992
-------
Spreading the Word About Quality
by Herb Shermw, Region B
In 1990, Region 6 became the first region to
provide Total Quality Management (TQM)
training and support to state employees involved
in LIST (Underground Storage Tanks) programs.
State managers received awareness training and state
workers received facilitator training so that they could
"spread the word" about Total Quality principles. As
a result of these efforts, Louisiana and Oklahoma
now ha\7e their own success stories to tell...
Louisiana
Louisiana selected its UST Worker Certification
Program as its first TQM project. This program
certifies the qualifications of workers who install,
repair, or close underground storage tanks. The state
put a team together to develop a flow chart and
procedures for the desired process, which
incorporated customer requirements (the worker
community). After analyzing the data collected, the
team found a major conflict between the UST
program and another state agency's responsibilities.
As a result, state UST regulations were revised, and
on January 20, 1992, Louisiana had a new-and-
improved UST Worker Certification Program.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma's TQM project was to improve the
state's corrective action process for leaking
underground storage tanks. The existing process
simply took too long to complete. The biggest delays
occurred in initiating clean ups and getting
reimbursements from the state clean-up fund.
Using Total Quality tools, state officials worked
with their customers (consultants) to identify solu-
tions. Out of these brainstorming sessions came a
consensus: written guidelines were needed to help
both the state and its customers work more efficiently.
The staff then formed further teams to develop
guidelines, which have now been in place for more
than a year. Although they are well-established in the
state's UST community, the guidelines continue to
be improved by the users.
International News
EPA Leads the
In Responding to Global Emergencies
by Karen Shanahan, OSWER
On April 22, a massive sewer line exploded in
Guadalajara, Mexico killing almost 200
people. The Mexican National Water
Commission requested assistance from the U.S., and
we quickly responded by sending them an EPA/Coast
Guard emergency response team. Charles Gazda,
Region 6, led a five-member team to evaluate
Guadalajara's emergency response system, assess
groundwater contamination, and survey potential
explosive conditions.
Similarly, in April, KPA sent a team to Uzbekistan,
a new republic in the Commonwealth of Independent
States (the former Soviet Union), to assess the
damage resulting from a huge oil well fire. The inter-
agency team, led by Tonyjover, OSXVER, included
experts from the Centers for Disease Control and
the Coast Guard National Strike Team. According
to Tony, international emergency response is
especially challenging for two reasons: "First of all,
you don't have the home field advantage. Secondly,
you have an opportunity to represent the U.S. in a
mission that directly helps the environment."
In recent years, EPA has been involved in other
response efforts such as the Persian Gulf oil fires, a
Mozambique oil tanker spill, a Latvian chemical spill,
and an oil spill off the coast of Morocco. Adminis-
trator Bill Reilly has described EPA's emergency
response capability as "one of the great U.S. success
stories in the environmental field."
Jim Makris, as director of EPA's Chemical
Kmergency Preparedness and Prevention Office,
coordinates international emergency responses with
other KPA organizations and federal agencies.
EPAlnSight • June 1992
-------
Calendar
M
American
Rivers
Month
7
^^14
Fla% Day
21
Ftffbe>'\ Day
Simi??ier's bete'
28
1
8
15
• June !S-July31
Leave Bank Open
Season
22
Depart?r/e?if of
Justice created.
1820
29
Fiirn!/}1 Day J
Teather^ Day
Congress jnudc
Atmnam Indwm
citizem, 1924
9
Senior G/7~fm'
Day
16
23
*• *3
• June 3 14
UNCED
10
• 1st Annual
Open I louse
IH-RI /RTF
17
4
World C
Iwirvnment Day ~*
• June 4-5 Contract Management
Training for All EPA Executives (Contact
Tom Wyvill, O\RA1, rrS-202-;!6 * ^
^
------- |