November 1971
PUBLISHED FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PROPOSALS TO INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN AGENCY
An October 15 briefing of Administrator Ruckelshaus by
EPA's recently formed Federal Women's Program Advisory
Committee reveals that EPA's commitment to the White
House for increasing the percentage of women in upper
grades has not yet been achieved.
Of EPA's 6,800 employees in full time GS grades, 38
percent are women. Eighty-three percent of these women
OPEN SEASON
ON HEALTH BENEFITS
The Civil Service Commission recently announced an
extension of the open season for the Federal Employees
Health Benefits Program to December 31, 1971.
The open season was scheduled for November 15 through
November 30, 1971. Because of delays in negotiating 1972
premiums resulting from the wage-price freeze, the open
season is still scheduled to begin November 15 but employees
will have until December 31 to enroll in a plan or change
plans and options and from self to family coverage. During
this period, annuitants may also change plans and coverage
but may not newly enroll in a plan.
The Commission said that 1971 benefits for all the plans
will continue unchanged through 1972. Premiums for most
plans, however, will be increased next January to reflect a
plan's actual claims and operating costs and changed risk
factors (such as age of plan members). The new premiums
will be announced as soon as negotiations with carriers are
completed. The Government contribution, which by law is
40% of the average high option premium of six of the largest
plans, will also be increased in January.
employees are in grades 1 through 7. Almost 60 percent
(58.7%) are in grades 1 through 5. There are no women in
the supergrades, GS 16 through 18. And of the 1,505
employees in grades 13 through 15, only 60 are women. The
Administrator took note during the briefing that in the
regions, there are 403 men and only 4 women in grades
13-15.
The disparity in grade level between male and female
employees is highlighted by the following table:
Women1
Grade Level 1-7 83%
8-11 12%
12 3%
13-15 7%
16-18 0%
Men2
24%
22%
18%
35%
2%
1 Percentage off EPA women employees in grades indicated
2 Percentage of EPA men employees in grades indicated
».
EPA committed itself to increasing the number of women
in grades 13-15 by 50 percent by December 31, 1971. Of
the 25 needed tomeetthisgoal, only 10 have been appointed.
The Administrator said the special briefing gave him a
clearer picture of the severity of the problem, and he pledged
his full support to ameliorate the current unfavorable
employment ratio.
The Federal Women's Program Advisory Committee,
headed by Irene A. Hardman, presented an action plan to the
Administrator that would meet the commitment to the
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President and also upgrade women throughout EPA. The
recommendations include the following:
. . . appoint more women to Advisory Boards and
Committees.
. . . increase hiring of professional women.
. . . increase number of women at the supergrade level by
at least three.
. . . increase both short and long-term training
opportunities for women.
The Committee requested the Administrator to establish
employment and training goals based on its
recommendations and to have Program and Regional
administrators develop implementation plans for the
achievement of these goals in their own areas.
Norris W. Sydnor, Jr., Director of the Office of Equal
Opportunity, established EPA's Federal Women's Program
Advisory Committee in the early summer to advise and
counsel his office on all Agency employment practices and
programs relative to women. He endorsed the
recommendations of the women's committee, and urged the
Administrator to see that EPA became a model, agency for
women's employment programs.
The committee consists of one representative from each
major EPA office. It intends to become an active force in
pushing for greater opportunities and advancement for all
women and hopes to see affiliate committees organized in
each regional office to monitor progress in the field. For
further information or for the presentation of suggestions,
employees should contact their office representative. The
committee members are:
Chairman: Irene A. Hardman, Office of Categorical
Programs
Executive Secretary: Gail Korb, Personnel
J. Frances Allen, Ph.D., Research & Monitoring
Leslie A. Carothers, Office Enforcement & General
Counsel
Kathleen Carson, Office of International Affairs
Eileen F. Donnelly, Office of Congressional Affairs
R. Elizabeth Irons, Office of Public Affairs
Joyce S. Lavernoich, Office of Equal Opportunity,
Special Liaison Member
Diane Newton, Personnel Management Division, Special
Liaison Member
Kay E. Pettitt, Budget Operations Division
Charlie K. Swift, Office of the Administrator
Evelyn T. Thornton, Grants Administration Division
Linda C. Wastler, Office of Media Programs
Irene A. Hardman, Chairman of the Federal Women's
Program Advisory Committee, reports on need to improve
opportunities for women employees to Administrator
Ruckelshaus.
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QUESTIONS, ANSWERS ON PAY FREEZE IMPACT
The 90 clay salary and wage stabilization freeze
established by Executive Ordei 11615 has prompted many
inquiries from EPA employees Some of these aie covered in
the following questions and answeis
Setting Basic Pay
1 Q
2 Q
Promotions to positions of greater responsibilities in
higher grade or level are permissible under the wage
and salary freeze Does this include careei promotions
and promotions as exceptions to competitive
procedures'
A. All proper promotions are permissible However,
particular care must be taken to insure that the duties
and responsibilities of each position clearly justify the
higher grade level in accordance with published
classification standards
May a within-grade rate to which an employee would
have been advanced if the freeze had not been in effect
be used in determining his pay on promotion7
A. During the freeze period, an employee's pay on
promotion will be established on the basis of the rate
he is actually being paid at the time of the promotion.
However, his personnel action will show the rate he
would have received if the withm-grade increase had
been in effect and his pay will be increased to that rate
at the end of the freeze
3 Q An employee who exercises his reemployment rights
following service with an international organization
normally would be entitled to any with in-grade
increases he would have earned if he had remained
continuously in the Federal service If an employee
returns during the 90-day freeze, can his pay be
adjusted to reflect these withm-grade increases'
A. Yes, provided the effective dates of the increases were
before the start of the freeze period. If the employee
would have received a withm-grade increase on or after
the start of the freeze, his pay cannot be increased to
reflect that withm-grade increase until the freeze ends.
(The same principle applies to employees who have
had their service interrupted by a period in the armed
forces.)
Incentive Awards
4 Q Can agencies continue to grant cash awards during the
freeze to employees for performance exceeding job
requirements, either as a one-time occurrence or over a
sustained period'
A. Such cash awards can continue to be made under
policies and controls in effect immediately prior to the
freeze (Quality step increases are not "cash awards"
for this purpose and are not authorized to be made
effective during the freeze period )
No Nonsunse will continue to repoit other developinc-nts
as they concern EPA employeeb
AWARDS CEREMONY
EPA's fust honor awards cor oniony, complete wild
military band and color guaid. will beheld in Washington on
December 2. first anniversary of the only Feclural Agency
dedicated exclusively to pollution control
This occasion will affoid the Admimstiator cin excellent
opportunity to recognize EPA employees who have made
exceptional and outstanding contributions to the Agency
zlunng the past year
Two top-level honor awaid categories will be piesented by
the Administrate! The "Gold Medal for Exception^
Service," the highest EPA honor awaid, will be granted on a
highly selective basis for distinguished service of majoi
significance to environmental improvement and to public
service The "Silver Medal for Supenor Seivice," the
Agency's second highest award, is given foi contributions or
service of unusual value In addition, a third "Awaid foi
Youth Achievement" available only to employees under 31
years of age, will be given to recognize the important role of
youth in EPA
Commissioned Coips Meritorious Service Medals will also
be awarded to Public Health Service off iccis who aie assigned
to EPA
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EPA's 'HOME ON THE RANGE'
Bet you didn't know that EPA has its own herd of
Hereford beef cattle, along with EPA farmers and cowboys
to manage and feed them! It's all happening as a part of an
active research program at EPA's Western Environmental
Research Laboratory (WERL) experimental farm. The Farm
is located on the Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear test
site at Las Vegas, Nevada.
Big Sam, a fistulated steer from the herd of more than 70
Hereford beef cattle, has been a featured exhibit at a number
of fairs, expositions and other special events. The Laboratory
and the AEC's Nevada Operations Office sponsor the
showing of Big Sam at these special events where he is
displayed in his own special portable pen.
In a suitable deep voice, Sam tells his own story of the life
he leads on the 1350-square mile test site in Nevada. "My
place is right smack in the middle of the AEC's nuclear test
area. A Texas-sized spread I call it," Sam says.
When Sam was a yearling, he underwent surgery to have a
fistula (hole) into his rumen (forestomach) with a canula
(plugged entrance to the hole) installed in his left side. "I've
had it nearly all my life," says Sam, "and it doesn't hurt a
bit." He and four similarly fitted corral mates then joined the
herd of beef cattle that grazes the Nevada Test Site—where,
from 1951 to the end of last year, some 375 nuclear
explosive tests were conducted.
Sam and the other fistulated steers had a special job to do
for a research project being done jointly by the University of
Nevada, which owned the steers, and WERL, which has been
managing the AEC's beef herd since 1964. The fistulated
steers were to serve as biological samplers of the forage
grazed by the herd as it ranges over the desert test site.
Once a month, a sample of the rumen contents is removed
from Sam or one of his fistulated corral mates. The
Radiological Research Program at WERL analyzes the
samples for radioactivity and botanical species represented.
The University of Nevada then relates the nutritional
composition of the diet to the actual plant species ingested.
Also, the chemical and radiochemical composition of the
animals' diet is determined and changes in composition of the
diet are studied with relation to season, year-to-year
variation, and nuclear testing events.
The beef herd has lived on the Nevada Test Site since
1957. Twice a year, animals from the herd are slaughtered by
WERL veterinarians, and a large number of tissue and organ
samples are taken. These are analyzed for radionuclide
content at the WERL, and samples are sent to EPA's
pathology laboratory in Rockville, Maryland for complete
microscopic examination.
No! This is not a scene from "Gunsmoke"—lt is a view of
EPA's cowboys at roundup time for a cattle herd maintained
In all these years, no pathology related to radiation
exposures has been observed. The radiation levels in the
tissues are well below allowable levels, and the meat would
be quite safe for consumption. The herd of a 96% calf drop
I I I I J l-L
I MM lj;f
BIG SAM
"Big Sam" always attracts good crowds when he is
attending a state or county fair. Recently, about 40,000
persons stopped to hear Big Sam's taped story and
approximately 10,000 pieces of literature were distributed at
the New Mexico State Fair.
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by the Western Environmental-Research,Laboratory.
for the last 3 consecutive years—a production statistic that
few herds could beat.
The AEC also has an experimental diary farm on the
Nevada Test Site developed and managed by WERL as a field
research facility for studying the transport of radionuclides
through man's environment to man. In different studies,
cows or growing crops are exposed to aerosol sprays of
radionuclides, or cows are fed capsules containing
radionuclides. Radionuclide concentration in the forage, the
milk, in certain organs, and in the excreta is measured. The
data are studied to learn the influence of particle size, type of
forage, feeding practices, and other parameters. The
information is used to develop models by which to predict
exposure to man, and to evaluate the effectiveness of various
protective actions which may be taken to reduce the
amounts of radionuclides getting into food materials under
different contaminating situations.
Besides managing the beef herd and dairy farm, the
WERL wildlife biologists and veterinarians collect samples
from several wild species living in or near the test site's
biological indicators of fallout. The WERL cooperates with
state and federal conservation agencies in surveillance of
bighorn sheep, mule deer, and other native species.
From these and other continuing and cooperative
programs conducted over a period of many years, comes a
better understanding of the complex behavior of radioactive
material in the environment and its effect on living things.
100th TECHNICAL REPORT
PUBLISHED
Although the Environmental Protection Agency has not
yet celebrated its first birthday, many of the programs and
activities for which it is responsible have been underway for
many years. Recently the 100th technical report in the AP
(air pollution) series was published by the Office of
Technical Information and Publications (OTIP) in Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina.
The AP series was begun in 1963 by the U.S. Public
Health Service as part of the Environmental Health Series of
reports. This series also included publications on
environmental engineering and water supply and pollution
control.
The manager of the air pollution technical publishing
activity is Robert R. Kolbinsky who began his Federal service
career in 1964 as Supervisor of Editors at the Robert A. Taft
Sanitary Engineering Center-now a part of the National
Environmental Research Center.
In addition to the publication of the AP series of reports,
Technical Publications publishes Air Pollution Technical
Data (APTD) reports and provides editorial services for
technical journal articles, books and presentations.
Because so much of -EPA's work eventually results in a
technical journal article or report, the quality of its technical
information office staff must by necessity be of the highest
order. EPA is indeed fortunate to have people in its technical
publishing activities who demonstrate every day their
dedication to the programs of this Agency.
Mrs. Anna Cooper and Mr. Robert Kolbinsky, both of the
Air Pollution Technical Information Center, discuss recent
publication of number 100 in the AP series of technical
documents.
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NEW EMPHASIS ON YOUTH
EPA 1971 Summer Interns take a few moments from their
work for an office party and an opportunity to meet the Administrator.
EPA has now established year-round youth programs
which will provide full and part-time positions for youth
currently enrolled in high school, college and graduate
programs, as well as those who have finished their formal
education.
High school students will be hired under the Vocational
Office Training and Back to School programs. Students in
these programs generally perform clerical, messenger or
lab-helper duties,
Undergrads will be hired for assistant and technician jobs
in staff, research, technical and scientific areas throughout
the Agency. Most of these students will be hired under
Cooperative Education Agreements negotiated with their
college or university and will work in areas directly related to
their studies.
A proposed Urban Environmental Intern Program would
provide concerned inner-city youth with training in public
affairs, grants, legislative and manpower development areas.
The aim of the program is to equip a corps of young people
with knowledge of procedures necessary to effect
environmental improvements within the inner-city.
Graduate degree candidates may take advantage of EPA's
Graduate Fellowship Program for substantive project
assignments which will serve as the basis for their graduate
theses.
Management Interns (we now have 9) and Technical
Interns will come to EPA as permanent employees. They will
begin with a year of rotational training that will expose them
to various administrative or technical areas — which will help
influence or determine their ultimate assignments.
A chief ingredient of youth programs will be the support
activites planned such as:
• Seminars and after-hours programs to acquaint youth
with all facets of environmental activity
• Participation in university and high school Career Days
• Strong youth participation in EPA's Speaker's Bureau
• Youth Advisory Board in headquarters and each of the
regions to provide youth input into EPA's
administrative, personnel and program decisions.
RAD EMPLOYEE RECEIVES AWARD
Michael S. Terpilak, regional representative for EPA's
Office of Radiation Programs in New York, and
A. Burt Kline, Jr. a former EPA employee, recently received
the fifth annual Atomic Industrial Forum Award in the
nuclear community category. The award was given for their
instrumental roles in establishing the Environmental and
Ecological Forum, a public service program to foster
community understanding of environmental problems. The
Forum presents a balanced program in which knowledgeable
speakers discuss the various ways that man's use of
technology may affect his well-being.
The sponsors of the Forum include the
Baltimore-Washington Chapter of the Health Physics Society,
the Washington Section of the American Nuclear Society, the
Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Association of
Physicists in Medicine, and the Montgomery County,
Maryland, Public School Department of Adult Education.
The Forum was singled out for its initiative in organizing
"a comprehensive series of meetings that presented a finely
balanced view of nuclear power to the interested public in
the Washington area."
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BICYCLES INCREASE
IN POPULARITY
Bicycles seem to have captured the minds and leg muscles
of many Americans.
So if you think you've been seeing more bicyclists
pedaling by this season, you're probably right
If you haven't noticed, the Health Insurance Institute
reports that bicycling is gaining new popularity in this
country
Bicycle sales, for example, may reach eight million this
year
Since its invention in 1790, the bicycle has been used for
recreation and transportation.
But it is in the last decade that its popularity has grown
most spectacularly.
Since the mid-1950's, bicycles in the U.S have doubled to
an estimated 43 million - one for every 2.4 registered motor
vehicles-with the number of cyclists rising to some 64
million
One reason for bicycling, according to medical
authorities, is that it is good for you.
Steady pedaling, they say, can keep you as physically fit
as a jogger — and do it a lost less monotonously It's good,
too, for the big muscles of the legs - and more
important — it stimulates the circulatory system
You can keep in shape with three or four sessions a week,
each half-an-hour to an hour And note bike shops are now
showing lightweight models made to order for the middle-age
physique
How long does it take to get in shape? If you start
sensibly on flat runs and keep at it regularly, says one
specialist, "in less than 6 weeks, you can be going on 25-mile
bike rides if you're so inclined "
Added inducement: At 5 mph on a flat surface, you
burn up 4.5 calories more each minute than just sitting still.
Incidentally, there has never been an instance reported of a
bicycle failing to meet air pollution emission standards'
The important thing in cycling is that you should know
what you're doing and where you're going
Unfortunately, says the Institute, may cyclists do not
This year an estimated 120,000 to 150,000 not-so-easy
riders are expected to be injured and disabled in pedal
cycling accidents in the United States
At the same time, more than 750 persons are expected to
lose their lives in bicycle mishaps
The large majority of those riders who are killed and
injured will be school-age males
Life insurance company studies show the peak rate of
bicycling deaths occur among riders at ages 10 to 14 The
second highest rate was at ages 5-9
Once a rider reaches 20 years of age, his chances of being
severely injured in an accident drop sharply His chances go
up again when he is past 64 years
A study of bicycle accidents among children under age 15
indicates that the most important "single contributing
factor" is a gravelly, slippery, or uneven surface
A large number of the accidents, the study showed,
occurred when children were riding double
A study by the National Safety Council indicates that in
school age children, the size of the bicycle in relation to the
size of the child is an important factor m safety
The study found that the child riding a bike that is too
large for him is more frequently involved in accidents
The study also noted that although relatively few bicycle
accidents occur at night, the severity of accidents increases at
dark
So here's a safety note: though not all States require it,
if you plan to ride at night, get a headlight visible for 500
feet and a rear reflector that can be seen for 300 feet
No Nonsense is published for all EPA employees—for you
We welcome your suggestions and ideas for articles of general
interest Please address these to
Robert J Griffin, Jr
Editor, No Nonsense
Office of Public Affairs
Environmental Protection Agency
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20852
Tel. No. (301) 443-3223
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Edwin F. Barth, environmental chemist and winner of the
Thomas R. Camp Medal for work in wastewater treatment, at
work in the laboratory. National Environmental Research
Center, Cincinnati.
CG
'Honest Mom • I got this way from air pollution
EPA CHEMIST RECEIVES AWARD
Edwin F. Barth, a chemist at the National Environmental
Research Center in Cincinnati, has received National
recognition for his work in wastewater treatment.
He was awarded the Thomas R. Camp medal from the
Water Pollution Control Federation at its annual convention
in San Francisco. The award was for research which led to
the development of a treatment process for controlling
nitrogen and phosphorous in wastewater. Nitrogen and
phosphorus promote the growth of algae and other plants;
these plants, in turn, reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen
available for fish and more desirable aquatic life.
The Thomas R. Camp award is given to an individual who
demonstrates unique application of basic research to the
design or development of wastewater treatment systems.
According to Francis M. Middleton, Research Director of the
Cincinnati center's Advanced Waste Treatment Research
Laboratory, the basic system that has evolved from Mr.
Barth's work is being designed for several large cities,
including Washington, D.C.
Mr. Barth is currently the manager of that portion of
EPA's National demonstration program which deals with
nitrogen and phosphorus control. As a minor assignment, he
has participated in thirty National, regional, and local
seminars on Advanced Waste Treatment over the last several
years. The purpose of these seminars is to make
demonstration results and process evaluations available to
interested scientists and engineers in as short a time period as
possible.
He has served as project officer for as many as twenty
grants and contracts simultaneously. His efforts in this
activity are to guide conversion of research ideas into
practical process operation.
In fulfilling these duties, Mr. Barth has traveled
extensively, and he indicates that his most rewarding
experience has been the association with State officials,
consultants, professors, and treatment plant operators.
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