EPA DAT
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Vol. 1
June, 1978
No. 4
MIDSD
Sam Brown, National Computer Center Director
As stated several issues ago in EPA Data Talk, a major reorganization is
underway in the Management Information and Data Systems Division (MIDSD).
The formal statement of the newsletter's purpose, and its new name and
format are only minor examples of this reorganization.
Of greater significance is the recent reorganization of the MIDSD along
functional, rather than geographical, lines. The Data Center Branch at
the NCC in Research Triangle Park, N.C., will be responsible for the man-
agement of the ADP services of both major data centers (the Washington
Computer Center and the National Computer Center) and for the telecommu-
nications network. As a part of the Data Center Branch, a manager for
the NCC will be located at the RTP. However, the manager for the WCC,
although reporting to the Data Center Branch Chief, will operate from a
Waterside Mall office to provide close supervision over the WCC facility.
The NCC manager has yet to be selected. Beginning about July 1st, Curt
Lackey will become manager of the WCC, but Maureen Johnson will act as
interim manager until then.
In addition to the centralization of Data Center management at the NCC,
the 1980's procurement, applications design and implementation, GSA in-
ventory reporting, Data Base Management systems development, software
packages, micrographics, and suballowance charging (TSSMS) will be the
responsibility of the National ADP Services Center in RTP.
The Washington MIDSD office will exercise control over the Program Pol-
icy, Review, and Audit areas, as well as headquarters supervision for the
entire division. Some specific functions include procurement approvals
in program areas, feasibility study approvals, initial system feasibility
and design efforts in program areas, security policy for applications,
ADP funds budgeting and suballowance management, the Chemical Information
System, and the Systems Directory.
This summer new emphasis on ADP training will begin. The National ADP
Institute (NADPI) is being formed at the NCC facility in RTP. Three
courses will be offered in various locations across the nation to intro-
duce the NADPI. The initial courses will assist in the transition to the
1980's systems.
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DIRECTOR'S
CORNER
Willis Grecnstrcet
As you might expect, I keep hearing a-
bout "opportunities" to improve the ser-
vices provided by the data centers. We
have provided three telephone numbers
for you to call with your problems de-
pending on what they are. Just to make
sure everyone is aware of their exis-
tence and understands their function: If
you have a problem with communications
to NCC or WCC call WATS 800 424-8647 (or
if located in Washington, B.C., (202)
537-2661). If you have a problem with
your programs or data at NCC call (919)
541-3649. For a problem at WCC call
WATS 800 424-9067 (or in the Washington,
D.C. area, (202) 488-5900). If you are
not sure what your problem is, call one
of the User Support numbers. Either num-
ber will reach capable personnel and
tracking systems to handle your problem.
If you are unsatisfied with the response
after you have called the User Support
or Communications groups, we will be
glad to look into your problem and see
if an appropriate solution can be pro-
vided. At this point I suggest you call
Fred Kastner as 629-2932 for a communi-
cations problem, or Tom Rogers at 629-
2377 for an NCC problem or Maureen
Johnson at 755-0803 for a WCC problem.
As Sam Brown implements the reorganiza-
tion these contacts may change, but you
will be notified.
As many of you know, MIDSD is going
through the trauma of trying to reorgan-
ize itself. Obviously an optimum organ-
ization with no constraints (skills,
Civil Service regulations, number of
personnel, etc.) is different from an
organization which reflects those con-
cerns. We are proposing two assistant
directors: one for ADP Services and an-
other for Policy and Management. The
operation of both NCC and WCC, the A-109
Project, DBMS, software standards, and
system design and implementation will be
under the Assistant Director for ADP
Services, Sam Brown, who is located in
RTF. The Assistant Director for Policy
and Management will be responsible for
liaison between the regions and assis-
tant administrators in the development,
maintenance, and operation of their in-
formation systems. Budgeting, systems
audits, the Chemical Information System,
feasibility studies, and program hard-
ware approvals will also be the respon-
sibility of the assistant director who
will be located in Washington.
I believe that this reorganization is
consistent with my two goals of bringing
together the different operations of the
data centers to lower the amount of
change necessary with the 1980's acqui-
sition, and to better assist the Agency
in developing software systems to meet
its information needs. How long it will
take to get the people in place and then
to implement the organizational con-
cepts, I really don't know.
NETWORK ACTIVITIES
Fred Kastner
COMNET is continually striving for in-
creased network reliability and improved
problem diagnosis and problem resolu-
tion. This month COMNET/MIDSD has asked
AT&T to reroute the troublesome Denver
to NCC wideband circuit and has reques-
ted additional circuits from GSA. These
additional circuits are part of a recon-
figuration to decrease intercity depen-
dency for cities such as Grosse He,
Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, New Or-
leans, and Wethersfield. COMNET is also
making arrangements to provide COMNET
technicians at the COMTEN's in NCC and
Denver.
A maintenance contract with the modem
supplier, General DataCom, will soon
provide better response time on modem
problems.
COMNET has successfully signed on to NCC
with a remote DATA 100 RJE terminal emu-
lating a Univac 1004. Testing that ca-
pability is now underway.
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ADP TRAINING PROGRAM
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Vic Cohen, Computer Specialist
A recent survey showed that only a small
percentage of those who manage the
Agency's ADP projects or perform ADP
functions are computer professionals.
Although there is no desire to increase
this percentage, there will be a push
this summer to acquaint everyone working
directly or indirectly with ADP in the
fundamentals of data processing.
Three new ADP courses are planned, each
geared to meet the varying training
needs of EPA staffers. These courses
form the core of the Agency's pilot ADP
training program leading to the creation
of its National ADP Institute. Profes-
sors of computer science from North Car-
olina State University are developing
and presenting each course. Brochures
announcing this program are being pre-
pared now and will soon be distributed
throughout the Agency.
The "Executive Seminar in ADP" will ad-
dress the major issues of planning and
controlling computer utilization, in-
cluding the role of distributed pro-
cessing, trade-offs on varying degrees
of centralization of ADP functions, the
role of ADP coordinators, and the uses
of fiscal studies in planning. This
course will also stress costs associated
with ADP systems and ADP long-range
plans.
The "ADP Project Management and System
Development Cycle" will provide practi-
cal training and skills in budgeting and
cost control, procurement policies and
procedures, system development manage-
ment, and documentation.
"Basic ADP Concepts" will stress the
fundamentals of ADP systems and their
role within EPA. Not intended for com-
puter specialists but for computer
users, this course should give users an
appreciation for the potentials and lim-
itations of computer systems.
NADPI
It is easy to see that Agency division
directors, deputy assistant administra-
tors, engineers, scientists, management
analysts, secretaries, administrative
assistants, new professional-level em-
ployees — anyone working with ADP will
find one or more of these courses help-
ful.
EPA is beyond the point of selling the
advantages of ADP to its scientists and
administrators, but these professionals
and those working with them need the
knowledge and skills to contribute to
the effective management of computer re-
sources. System managers and project
officers must be familiar with the best
and most proper levels of involvement in
contractor-supported projects.
Automation seems a fact of life and all
should acquire an appreciation of ADP
and its effect on their profession. We
should prepare now for the intense de-
velopment in ADP that will likely come
to EPA during and subsequent to the
1980's procurement. These courses this
summer are a step in the right direc-
tion.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WCC
Anne Parkis
• The Financial Management Division
and MIDSD have reviewed and accepted
plans for transferring the Financial
Management System (FMS) from the Park-
lawn Computer Center to the WCC. This
FMS conversion, now underway, should be
completed by June 30.
• WCC management is building a secur-
ity program as a result of a vulnerabil-
ity study conducted by MIDSD under con-
tract with Computer Resources Controls.
The program, to be directed by the WCC
Security Officer scheduled to be on
staff in early May, will include such
items as administrative, software, and
physical safeguards; surveys of re-
sources to be protected; and periodic
security audits.
• COMNET is now implementing its re-
organization announced in March. The
new staffing plan will separate EPA pro-
ject responsibility from the rest of
COMNET business. Dan O'Leary has been
appointed the new project officer for
the EPA project.
• The Xerox 1200, which produces hard
copy output on 8*5" x 11" paper from mag-
netic tape is now available to WCC users
with large printing requirements. Watch
WCC publications for procedures to ob-
tain this service.
• The WCC is surveying user require-
ments for a DBMS network similar to the
Univac DBMS 1100 to be made available
at the Washington Center. Selection of
the package is scheduled for mid-May.
• Plans for a secure, dedicated com-
puter for the Office of Toxic Substances
are scheduled for implementation on Au-
gust 28, 1978. The system, which will
be totally compatible with the main cen-
ter, will be used exclusively by OTS to
process confidential business informa-
tion submitted by the chemical industry.
• Although the actual conversion is
many months away, WCC has begun a feasi-
bility study for changing the operating
system from OS/MVT to MVS. MVS is IBM's
most current operating system, and has
many features the now-unsupported OS
lacks.
• COMNET has purchased the services
of a Washington consulting firm to ana-
lyze the capacity and utilization of the
IBM 370/168. The analysis will produce
a snapshot of the current system and a
plan for the continuous evaluation of
the system.
• COMNET is planning a new microform
program. Improved procedures for using
alphanumeric COM, COM/graphics, and
source document filming will be devel-
oped. Machine accounting will be ana-
lyzed to identify candidate applications
and project managers will be consulted
on alternatives to line printing.
• A detailed billing file is avail-
able by the 15th of the month for the
previous month so users may retrieve
usage data (job/step accounting, Alpha
connect time, print lines, etc.) at the
user-ID level. Consult NEWS BILLING for
information on how to access this file.
• The conversion of all EPA tapes to
the Tape Management System conventions
has been accelerated. Currently, there
are 1,500 library tapes outside TMS con-
trol which will either be copied to TMS-
compatible tapes or archived off-site by
the end of August.
LIKE TO SEE YOUR NAME IN PRINT?
If you have an article that you think
might be of interest to tbe ^np com-
munity, or if you have photographs of
interest, please submit then to the
EPA Data Talk office. You will re-
for
ceive full acknowledgement
items used.
any
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MINICOMPUTER USEDATEERF
David Norwood, EERF
EPA, at its Eastern Environmental Radi-
ation Facility (EERF) in Montgomery, Al-
abama, owns and operates a PDF-11/45
minicomputer. At the EERF, the PDP-11/45
is used primarily to analyze environ-
mental radiation levels and trends. The
samples to be analyzed come from a na-
tionwide network of sampling stations,
called the Environmental Radiation Ambi-
ent Monitoring System (ERAMS), which
sends periodic samples to Montgomery for
analysis.
The next major application of the EERF
PDP-11/45 will be the implementation and
maintenance of a data base for all sam-
ples processed at EERF. This will pro-
vide data entry at sample login time and
will automatically enter analysis re-
sults into the data base as they are
calculated on the PDP-11/45. A proto-
type of this system is already in use at
EERF using samples collected in response
to the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air
Act.
SOME IDEAS FOR THE NEXT
BRANCH CHIEF MEETING
This analysis uses complex radionuclide
analysis software designed to give both
quantitative and qualitative data on
each sample. The PDP-11/45 software can
provide analysis by either the simultan-
eous equation method or the least
squares method.
Other PDP-11/45 software helps publish
the Environmental Radiation Data, a
quarterly publication containing ERAMS
data. The PDP-11/45 handles both the
mathematical manipulations of the data
and the word processing to produce the
text of the document. Similarly, Radio-
logical Quality of the Environment, a
statistical analysis of ERAMS data, is
produced using the PDP-11/45.
Besides scheduled samplings, the ERAMS
network increases the sampling frequency
in the event of a significant release of
radioactivity into the environment, such
as the recent Chinese nuclear explosion.
The PDP-11/45 must then handle a much
larger number of samples and provide the
complex calculations needed to determine
the possible hazards to various popula-
tions.
Software to provide radiation-dose cal-
culations for other types of events is
also maintained on the EERF PDP-11/45,
as is software to meet a number of local
needs like maintenance of local radionu-
clide inventory, time card input rou-
tines, and HASP software to provide
high-speed remote access to several
large computers.
Ted Standish, Region III ADP Branch Chief
After attempting to balance the ADP re-
sources budgets using the guidance that
we issued in February, it has become ap-
parent that some changes are needed for
next year's effort. I suggest this as
one item for discussion at the Branch
Chief meeting which should be held be-
fore the start of the new year. Other
items for that meeting would be FY1979
plans for each region and October per-
formance standards requirements for
each.
You are probably aware that feasibility
studies for the Hazardous Wastes and
Underground Injection Control Programs
have been distributed for comment. The
defined requirements of these two feasi-
bility studies are very similar to the
requirements of the NPDES Permits Pro-
gram. I suggest we look for ways to
consolidate them and possibly develop
"generalized" systems (but not GPSF, or
the son or daughter thereof) to support
them. The same ideas hold true for the
federal reporting requirements for the
Water Supply (both drinking water and
underground injection control) and Haz-
ardous Wastes Programs. These are also
potential topics for discussion at our
next meeting.
If you have any news, please send it to
me. Have a pleasant June.
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THE LATEST ON THE MODEL
STATE INFORMATION SYSTEM
Tom Martin, Office of Drinking Water
The Office of Drinking Water (ODW) is
continuing to implement the Model Scare
Information System (MSIS), a large-
scale, decentralized, management infor-
mation system designed to assist states
with their data handling and reporting
requirements under the Federal Safe
Drinking Water Act.
Personnel in all the thirty-five states
and EPA regions which were prepared to
accept MSIS have received formal class-
room training and MSIS has been in-
stalled in thirty-three. Installation
is currently underway in Arizona and in
Florida. Thus, we are now completing
the MSIS National Implementation Calen-
dar established last summer.
A task force of consultants, contrac-
tors, and ODW Headquarters personnel
worked with the MSIS users to identify
and resolve all problems with the inter-
pretation of the regulations. To this
end, they used results of the recent
MSIS Users Support Group Meeting, com-
ments from states and regions, on-site
visits, and their own analyses of live
data. Each region should receive a com-
plete set of issues and their resolu-
tions for comments before they are im-
plemented into MSIS.
Another task force of both water- and
ADP-oriented contractor personnel worked
with Region III in establishing a true
baseline for system operation as the
regulations in MSIS are presently inter-
preted. This effort included the pro-
cessing of the results of Pennsylvania
certified laboratory analyses, and as
such, provided a common point of refer-
ence for determining the operational
readiness of MSIS. The review-to-date
conducted by Region III Drinking Water
personnel concluded that bacteriologi-
cal, microbiological, and chemical con-
taminants are being properly evaluated
by MSIS.
The MSIS Users Support Group held its
first meeting in Dallas, Texas, from
February 6th through 9th. Fifteen
states, seven regions, Headquarters, and
the contractor were represented. Parti-
cipants reviewed MSIS status, discussed
common concerns, and formulated specific
enhancement requests. Overall, the par-
ticipants felt that the session was an
excellent opportunity to discuss MSIS
and to exchange ideas on improving the
system. During this meeting, both the
Water Supply and Data Processing Techni-
cal Advisory Committees were appointed
to review the enhancements recommended
at the Dallas meeting. Both committees
met in Seattle during April. At that
time, the Dallas recommendations were
formally defined and priorities assigned
before the MSIS Users Support Group Exe-
cutive Board action and actual for-
warding to ODW. The next national
meeting of the MSIS Users Support Group
will be held on July 10 and 11 at the
downtown Denver Hilton in Denver, Colo-
rado.
EPA Data Talk is published monthly by
the National Computer Center, Manage-
ment Information and Data Systems
Division, for EPA personnel and con-
tractors interested in general ADP
topics.
Comments and suggestions are solic-
ited and should be addressed to:
William G. Allen
Editor, EPA Data Talk
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711
To ensure that our distribution list
is un-to-date, please indicate any
requir-ed changes on the mailing label
attached to this issue and mail it to
the above address.
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PERSONS TO CONTACT
For Assistance:
WCC User Services
NCC User Services
National Communications Network
For Information:
NCC Communications
NCC Runs Exceeding 2 Hours
NCC Recorded System Status
NCC Tape Librarian
NCC Scientific Software Needs
NCC Change to Supported Software
ADP General Fund/Budget
Deltak Video Cassette Courses
Structured Programming and
Development
Account Registration
Data Talk Mailing List
WCC Recorded System Status
Regional ADP Chiefs:
I -Boston
II -New York
III -Philadelphia
IV -Atlanta
V -Chicago
VI -Dallas
VII -Kansas City
VIII-Denver
IX -San Francisco
X -Seattle
CSSD-Cincinnati
Jim Gillespie
Ron Courtney
Vivian Jackson
Gene Lowrimore
Gene Lowrimore
Jean Wilkinson
John Staley
Gene Lowrimore
Allen Ikalanian
Jack Sweeney
Ted Standish
Tom Tracy
Jerry Miller
Jim Sims
Dennis Degner
Carl Worster
Shun Obinata
Dennis Schur
Ed Nime
800
(202)
(919)
FTS
800
(202)
800
(202)
424-9067
488-5900
541-3649
629-3649
424-8647
537-2661
629-2385
629-2149
629-2226
629-2386
629-2641
629-2641
755-0814
629-3648
629-2641
629-3641
629-3641
424-3686
244-0655
223-5885
264-9850
597-8046
257-2316
353-2065
749-3761
758-2018
327-4925
556-2326
399-1580
68^-7765
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UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park
North Carolina 27711
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE S3OO
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U S ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-333
THIRD CLASS
BLK. RT.
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