"The public wants clean air, clean water, sensible use of resources; no brown-outs and no smog-outs, no products, conveniences or services that poison them slowly or quickly; no beautiful high-sounding claims by industry or Govern- ment that are not backed by solid performance; no short- term gains and long-term losses; no lame excuses; NO NONSENSE." August 1971 NO NONSENSE! PUBLISHED FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR It is with great pleasure that I inau- gurate this first issue of the EPA em- ployee newsletter. I hope it will prove to be an important forum for the exchange of information about EPA and its people. I encourage each of you to contribute your thoughts and ideas about EPA to me. In creating EPA we have experienced a series of reorganizations which have af- fected you and your work. Our goal for EPA is an Agency that will approach envi- ronmental problems from a total , function- al viewpoint. The changes we have been making hopefully will allow us to fulfill our mandate, to develop and bring to fru- ition EPA's long-range objectives. Our goal is to make this Agency a responsive, anticipatory arm of the government. I think that this Agency has a real chance to succeed, to achieve significant and visible improvements in the quality of our environment. It will require a team effort and the enthusiasm of all EPA em- ployees. The successes that we hope for, many of which will be fully realized only in the years ahead, will do much to re- store our citizens' faith in their govern- ment's ability to solve problems, a faith which is vital if the difficulties facing this country are to be resolved. I hope we can all dedicate ourselves to that effort, for I believe we can have no higher calling. ------- EPA HEADQUARTERS BUILDING One of the areas of greatest effort since the creation of EPA has been the attempt to find office space in Washington and regional center cities adequate for all EPA employees in the area. Adminis- trator Ruckelshaus feels that Office loca- tion is one of the best means of achieving the unity of approach that was sought in creating EPA. Since announcement of the selection of Waterside Mall in Southwest Washington, D.C., to serve as EPA Headquarters, plans have been developed to move employees into their new offices by stages. The first phase of the move will begin August 20 and will be complete by September 13, 1971 Five hundred fifty employees, most of come to whom now work at 1616 and 1626 K Street, N.W., will be the first to move into Waterside Mall. The second phase of the move is sched- uled for January 1972 and will affect an additional 1,000 employees. These will be drawn from among the the work force now at Crystal Plaza; 5600 Fishers Lane; 1750 K Street, N.W.; 1129-20th Street, N.W.; and 1835 K Street, N.W. A third phase of the move will occur in July 1972. All EPA headquarters employees will at last be working in one building complex at Waterside Mall. The GSA lease for Waterside Mall include: provision for 1,000 parking spaces for employee cars and official vehicles. The approximate ratio of employees to parking spaces is 2 1/2 to one. Therefore, given the anticipated number of employees who will use public transportation, and those who will participate in car pools, park- ing should not be a problem. An adminis- trative issuance will be published short- ly which will outline the criteria to be used in assigning parking spaces at Waterside Mall. All assigned parking spaces will be free to employees. Future issues of No Nonsense will pro- vide details concerning moving plans, ar- rangements for transportation, and services and facilities that will be available at Waterside Mall. ii 11 HUM itiini i iiniiiii*! i HIM • aS 55! fun mm nmn ------- REGIONAL OFFICE SPACE The Real Property and Space Management staff of the Data and Support Systems Division, working with GSA representatives, has completed the acquisition of space to accommodate the anticipated staffing of each of the ten Regional Offices through FY 1972. The acquisition of approximately 400, 000 total sq. ft. for the ten regions was a formidable task since the action had to be started prior to an approved regional organization and staffing chart for each region. EPA's criteria was for high quality space located in downtown areas, easily accessible to official vis- itors and the general public. Space ac- quired ranges from the staid old Curtis Building in Philadelphia across the street from Independence Hall and beautifully remodeled into first class office space, to space in the Park Place Building in Seattle. The Park Place Building setting is one of the most unusual in the country: a 21-story office tower rising from a beautiful 4 1/2 acre park in the heart of Seattle. The park will be built over the freeway with a 45 ft. waterfall into what is now the freeway median strip. Timing of the availability of the space was critical in all cities to accommodate the rapid expansion of the agency and the movement of personnel from Charlottesville and Portland to Philadelphia and Seattle. A close cooperative working relationship between headquarters and regional staffs of GSA and EPA was developed and main- tained throughout the acquisition proce- dures, and is directly responsible for the success of the mission. Mr. Woody Yaroch, Real Property and Space Management Officer, represented the Agency in nego- tiations with the GSA regional officials. GETTING TO KNOW YOU. . . The vitality and effectiveness of any organization are determined in large mea- sure by the personalities and abilities of its managers. The EPA is especially for- tunate in the number of able and well- qualified persons serving as Assistant Ad- ministrators, and in other positions of responsibility. These brief biographical notes give some indication of the wide range of experience which has been brought to bear in establishing and guiding the initial efforts of the Environmental Pro- tection Agency. Robert W. Fri. Deputy Administrator. Mr. Fri, 36, graduated from Rice Univer- sity, Phi Beta Kappa and from Harvard Uni- versity, Graduate School of Business Ad- ministration. He entered the U.S. Naval Reserve after graduation and served in the Navy until 1963. Mr. Fri became an Asso- ciate-with McKinsey and Company, Inc., in 1963. He specialized with McKinsey in the field of organization and management. He became a Principal of McKinsey in 1968. While with McKinsey, he was responsible for directing the firm's management con- sulting assignments in the public sector, and has worked on projects with the Office of Management and Budget, Treasury Depart- ment, Commerce Department, Peace Corps and Labor Department. Thomas E.Carroll, Assistant Adminis- trator for Planning and Management. Mr. Carroll, 43, served as Executive Vice-Pres- ident and Director of Evans Broadcasting Corporation in New York prior to joining EPA. At Evans he was responsible for the construction, development and operation of major market television broadcast enter- prises. David D. Domim'ck, Assistant Adminis- trator for Categorical Programs. Mr. Dominick, 34, is EPA's newest AA. We are all familiar with Mr. Dominick, though, from his service as Commissioner of the Federal Water Quality Administration. Prior to his EPA service, he served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Clifford Hansen of Wyoming. Dr. Stanley M. Greenfield, Assistant Administrator for Research and Monitoring. Dr. Greenfield, 43, came to us from Rand where he was Head of the Department of En- vironmental Sciences and Manager of the Rand program in Environmental Studies. He has a B.A. in meteorology and physics from New York University and his Ph.D. from UCLA in meteorology. ------- Donald M. Mosiman, Assistant Adminis- trator for Media Programs. Mr. Mosiman, 41, came to EPA from Perene Leisure Inter- nationa] , where he served as a business and management consultant. Mr. Mosiman has served as Deputy and Assistant Attorney General for the State of Indiana. John R. Quarles, Assistant Administra- tor for Standards and Enforcement and Gen- eral Counsel. Mr. Quarles, 36, served as Assistant to the Secretary for Policy Plan- ning and Research at the Department of the Interior, prior to joining EPA. Before that, he held the position of Assistant for Environmental Planning to the Under Secre- tary of Interior where he was responsible for directing the Environmental Planning Staff. Fitzhugh Green, Associate Administrator for International Affairs. Mr. Green, 54, has served with the U.S. Information Agen- cy as Deputy Director of USIA operations in the Far East, and as Assistant to Sena- tor Claiborne Pell in foreign affairs and oceanology. Graham W. McGowan, Director of Congress- ional Affairs. Mr. McGowan, 52, has served as General Counsel to the Electronic In- dustries Assn., and as Staff Counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Thomas T. Hart, Acting Director of Public Affairs. Mr. Hart, 44, came to EPA from the Public Broadcasting Environment Center, where he served as Deputy Execu- tive Director. Norn's W. Sydnor, Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity. Mr. Sydnor, 30, served as Director of the Office of Environmental Activities in the Water Quality Office, and as a Manpower Devel- opment Officer for the Federal Water Qual- ity Administration. EPA wants to publish on recycled paper, whenever possible. The Joint Committee on Printing is currently reviewing specifica- tions for paper stocks used by all Federal agencies, with a view toward increased use of those papers containing recycled fibers. No Nonsense will be published on recycled paper when it is available. MANAGEMENT INTERN PROGRAM ANNOUNCED Mr. Howard M. Messner, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Administration and Chair- man of the Management Intern Committee, has recently announced the selection of 10 outstanding individuals to participate in EPA's first management intern program. This important program will serve as a source of highly qualified and broadly trained management personnel with agency- wide perspective who will be available for management and professional positions throughout the Agency. Traditionally, management interns have advanced rapidly in the Federal Service. The 1-year program consists of a series of four varied but integrated intensive training assignments across operating Agency lines. In addition to rotational assignments, interns will also attend seminars, Civil Service Commission courses, and will be encouraged to enroll in grad- uate course work at local colleges and universities. The EPA Management Intern Committee, consisting of Howard Messner, Ed Rhodes, Charlie Swift, Ray Pugh, and Bob Kelly, selected the following 10 interns for the 1971 program: Andrew M. Caraker George Washington University Holly A. Carroll St. John's College Kerrigan G. Clough Central Michigan University Joseph P. Foran EPA Judith A. Kammins EPA Robert L. Mitchell EPA Joseph C. Montgomery Antioch College Wayne C. Savage University of Utah Thomas W. Viers EPA Joan L. Werner EPA ------- CHANGES IN EFFLUENT GUIDELINES-SETTING The effort to develop uniform National effluent guidelines, to be applied to in- dustries discharging wastes to interstate waterways, has encountered unexpected technical difficulties. These difficulties have required modification of the original approach to the guidelines-setting proce- dure. Basically, effluent guidelines to be applied to individual industrial facili- ties will be determined by the appropriate EPA Regional Administrator, rather than by Nationally applicable guidelines. Vary- ing characteristics of receiving bodies of water, such as size and aeration rates, together with variations in size and dis- charge volumes of industrial facilities within a given industry, necessitated the change. In order to have taken all of these factors into account, National guidelines would necessarily have been so broad and non-specific as to leave the plant manager uncertain as to the steps he should take. On such terms, it seems likely that even the most conscientious industry would be inhibited from making a large investment in pollution control equipment, lest it later be determined inadequate. Mr. Ruckelshaus candidly acknowledged difficulties in developing National ef- fluent guidelines at a news conference on July 20, 1971, in Washington, D.C. He has emphasized that the change in procedure for granting industrial discharge permits --with wide discretion left to EPA Re- gional Offices--should not be con- strued as a retreat from the strong Agency position in favor of maintaining high water quality standards. Mr. Ruckelshaus has insisted that EPA will not approve an industrial permit unless the Agency is assured that 1} appli- cable State water quality standards have been correctly applied; 2) the indus- try's effluent is given at least secon- dary treatment or its equivalent where the standard requires this; 3) there is the strictest adherence to a long-stand- ing policy that high quality waters will remain high in quality and will suffer no degradation. It should be noted that continued effort is being made to resolve the dif- ficulties in developing National effluent guidelines. When they do become available the guidelines will be used by regional offices in reviewing industrial permit applications. WATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT ACTIONS DECEMBER 3, 1970 - JU]\E 30, 1971 One of the hallmarks of the Environ- mental Protection Agency is its willing- ness to bring enforcement actions to halt violation of pollution laws. To date3 over 80 enforcement actions have been taken against cities and industries. The follow- ing summary indicates the scope and effect of EPA's resort to legal means to help abate water pollution. On December 10, 1970, at the National Conference of Mayors in Atlanta, Georgia, the EPA Administrator, one week in office, served 180-day notices on 3 major cities - Detroit, Cleveland, and Atlanta - to halt violations of Federal-State Water Quality Standards or face the possibility of court action. Despite complaints by the Mayors that it was the lack of promised Federal funds which was holding back their efforts the notices stood. ------- In June, the Administrator announced in a press release that agreements had been reached between EPA and the three cities, calling for expenditures of $1.2 billion to curb the pollution of "dying" Lake Erie and Georgia's Chattachoochee River, termed "an open sewer." Detroit and Cleveland, Lake Erie's two largest polluters will en- gage in a $1 billion, six-year program to halt the dumping of sewage and reduce the discharges of phosphorous, the nutrient which spurs algal growth in the Lake. At- lanta, as a result of raising its sewage rates by approximately 50 percent, is now in a position to take bids for the first two sewage treatment plants to cost approx- imately $62 million in local and Federal funds, and to be constructed within a peri- od of two and a half years. Issuance of 180-day notices, affecting both industry and cities, was used first by the Department of Interior, which issued a total of 10 notices before relinquishing its powers to the EPA. Since December 1970, the EPA has brought twelve such actions. The other major enforcement weapon used by EPA has been the referral of industrial pollution cases to the Justice Department for prosecution under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, commonly known as the Refuse Act. Since EPA was formed, 26 cases have been referred to Justice which has either obtained injunctions to prohibit the offen- sive discharge or has brought criminal prosecution and sought penalties in the form of fines. An additional 28 Refuse Act cases have been instituted in this period by the Justice Department, or by the U.S. Attorneys throughout the country, with technical assistance from EPA's regional offices. In addition to the two enforcement techniques already mentioned, the Agency continues to hold Enforcement Conferences. The Federal Government and the States continuous to the body of water under consideration, come together to outline the problems and any progress which has been made toward abatement. As a result of this meeting, a schedule is set up for alleviating the polluting conditions. This schedule then becomes subject to enforcement by issuance of 180-day no- tices. Fourteen Enforcement Conference actions have been initiated since the formation of EPA. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers are now engaged in administering an ambitious cleanup program known as the Refuse Act Permit Program which Mr. Ruckelshaus said is the nation's first coordinated attack on the water pollution problems of industry. Every industry which discharges material into navigable waters or their tributaries must provide data on these discharges to the Corps of Engineers in order to obtain a permit. The original deadline for filing in- formation concerning waste discharges was July 1. A ninety-day extension was granted in May for certain of the data requirements, due to difficulty in de- veloping all of the information necessary. In most cases, the required data will include 14 characteristics such as rate of flow, temperature of the water, solids and nutrients, and the presence or ab- sence of as many as 51 other pollutants. Permits for discharges will be issued upon agreement by EPA and the States that the quality of the receiving water will be protected. Penalties for those who do not comply can be either civil, with an injunction to cease the discharge en- tirely until the quality is improved; or criminal, with a fine of up to $2,500. Future abatement actions in the areas of water, air, and other environmental fields will be reported as they are ini- tiated by EPA. ------- |