United States Environmental Protection Agency Issue No. 5 July 5, 1982 Pa.ge 17 EPA TIMES A PUBLICATION FOR EPA EMPLOYEES. Personnel EPA Employees Honored ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES When Congress returns from its July 4th recess, it will be considering per- manent legislation to permit Federal agencies to continue compressed work weeks and other varieties of flexible work alter- natives to the fixed 40-hour week or 8-hour day. EPA, like many other Federal agencies, has been experi- menting with four-day work weeks, 9-hour work days, and maxi-flex programs in a number of its facilities as authorized under the Federal Employees' Flexible and Compressed Work Sched- ules Act of 1978, which approved a three-year experimental opportunity. The experiment, which Congress later extended will end on July 24 unless new legislation is passed. Under bills pending inCongress, Federal agencies could have a 90-day period after passage during which they could unilaterally terminate any existing alternative work schedule program authorized under the experiment. Flexible work schedules which predate the existence of the present law --such as the Headquarters' flexitime pro- gram of 8-hour days and pre- arranged fixed schedules--are unaffected by this Congres- sional debate and pending legislation.The EPA Personnel Office will keep employees apprised of Congressional progress and of any sched- ule changes that might be required by new legislation. Anne M. Gorsuch, EPA Administrator, aided by Carolyn Dottery (center), Headquarters Personnel secretary, presents an Administrator's Award for Excellence to Christina Denmark, a clerk in the Office of Administration, Cincinnati, Ohio. Anne M. Gorsuch, EPA Administrator, recently presented awards to outstanding Agency employees and thanked them "for the contribution that you have made to a cleaner, healthier America this year." The presentation was made at EPA's 1982 employees honor awards ceremony "We ^re here today," Mrs. Gorsuch said, "to honor those whose performance over the course of the year has enabled the work of environmental protection to proceed more smoothly than in the past, to achieve greater savings for the American people, and--above a 11 — to provide the caliber of environmental results that will make this nation a better place for future generations." The Administrator said that she is "very proud" of the many Agency employees who have helped further EPA's new programs. She also said that "the dedication and talents of people in our regional offices have impressed me whenever I have traveled around the country." "Such people are the core of our greatest resource—one that will remain vital to EPA and the American people as we confront the challenges of the coming year." Reviewing the progress that has been made since the inception of EPA, Administrator Gorsuch said: "Over the course of its first 12 years, EPA has been instrumental in changing the environmental thinking of the American people. Today, nearly all citizens are aware of the importance of environmental concerns and the problems that we face." Continued to page 20 ------- 18 REGIONAL PROFILES (This is another in a series of profiles of the Agency regional offices and laboratories that EPA TIMES is presenting.) A Report on Region 4 By Regional Administrator Charles R. Jeter The Atlanta Regional Office of EPA works with the eight Southeastern States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi to achieve a common goal of safeguarding the health of the people and protecting the natural environment. Since the South is one of the fastest growing areas in the Nation, this responsibility is increasing. States can make better, more responsive environmental decisions when applying national program rules within their own borders, and EPA's Region 4 has been a leader in delegating national programs to States. The Region is committed to providing the States with maximum responsibility to manage major portions of air, land and water programs. As a result of this partnership, the Region has a very effective enforcement program resulting in a high level of source compliance. The totals for the eight States in the Region in Calendar Year 1981 were 1,961 enforcement actions, including 684 involving penalities amounting to $2,511,858. In addition to the delegation of programs to State governments, Region 4 has been a leader in dealing with the problems of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Superfund Twenty-three sites in the Atlanta Region were included in EPA's initial list of National Priority Sites and work is continuing on developing data for hazard ranking at approximately 200 sites for possible inclusion on the 400-site National Priority List. Federal removal actions have taken place at four sites. At three other locations, privately funded removal actions have been negotiated. The removal action at Bluff Road in Columbia, South Carolina, was one of the first major voluntary cleanup actions. The Walcott Chemical site, an abandoned warehouse in Greenville, Mississippi, has been cleaned up by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. As part of the Regional effort to encour- age the States to assume responsibi1ity for site cleanup, EPA has entered into cooperative agreements with Georgia for the cleanup of the Luminous Processes facility in Athens, Georgia, and with North Carolina for the cleanup of PCB- contaminated roadsides. Both of these projects are expected to be completed this summer. The Athens, Georgia, location is the only radioactive site in the Nation to be cleaned up using Super- fund monies. The North Carolina PCB cleanup, involving $2.5 million of Superfund monies, is one of the largest single expenditures. State Delegation The Region is particularly proud of the record of its delegations to the States. Six of the eight States in the Region operate the national wastewater discharge permit program and eight States have the major responsibi1ity for the drinking water program and pesticides enforce- ment. All eight States have been granted interim authorizations to carry out certain provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and portions of other Federal programs. The EPA Times is published every two weeks by EPA's Office of Public Affairs, A-107 Washington, D.C., 20460, to provide current information for all Agency employees. It is printed on paper with three ring holes so that it can be filed in a binder for future reference. ------- 19 Honors Award Ceremony EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch and Assistant Administrator John Horton descended from platform at EPA Awards Ceremony to present an Administrator's Award for Excellence to Linda Carroll, a multiple sclerosis victim who is a communications management specialist in the Office of Administration at Research Triangle Park, N.C. Cannon Names Staff Joseph A. Cannon, Associate Administrator for Policy and Resource Management, has announced the appoint- ment of C. Ronald Smith as Director of the Office of Standards and Regulations and Richard D. Morgenstern as Director of the Office of Policy Analysis. to U.S. Senator John Tower of Texas from 1976 to 1980. As Director of the Office of Standards and Regulations, Smith is responsible for,managing and evaluating the devel- opment process for Agency standards, regulations and guide!ines. economic research organiza- tion in Washington, D.C. He also served as Senior Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana and as Deputy Assistant Director for Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment for the Con- gressional Budget Office. As Director of the Office of Policy Analysis, Dr. Morgenstern is responsible for conducting economic evaluations of Agency programs, policies, standards and regulations. He is also responsible for evaluating Agency policies affecting energy develop- ment, facilities and use. Prior to his appointment, Smith served as the Associate Manager of Regulatory Affairs for the Diamond Shamrock Corporation, based in Dallas, Texas. Smith has a law degree from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in Political Science from George Washington University. He served as Senior Legislative Counsel Dr. Morgenstern brings to EPA an extensive back- ground in economic issues. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, has a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Michigan and has taught economics at Queens College--the City University of New York. He was previously director of the Energy Program at the Urban Institute, an ------- 20 The names of the EPA employees who received awards at the ceremony are: DISTINGUISHED CAREER AWARD A. D. Sido - Special Assistant to Assistant Administrator for Enforcement, National Enforcement, Investigations Center, Denver, Colorado INDIVIDUAL GOLD MEDAL FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE: John Little - Deputy Regional Admin- istrator, Region 4, Atlanta, Georgia Dr. Joseph Seifter: Senior Medical Advisor, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, Washington, D.C. (posthumously) GROUP GOLD MEDAL FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE: Thomas Dahl and Carroll Wills - NEIC Hazardous Waste Case Development Team, National Enforcement Investigations Center, Denver, Colorado Henry Longest, Joan Koval ic, Gerald Yamada, Joseph Retzer, and Charles Mooar - Work Group for Legislative and Regula- tory Reform of the Construction Grants Program, Offices of Water and General Counsel, Washington, D.C. Joseph Cotruvo, Will 1am Lappenbusch, Krishan Khanna, Penelope Fenner-Crisp and Edward Ohanian - Health Effects Advisory Group, Office of Water, Wash , D.C. Michael Levin, John Hoffman, StevenSeide I, Ivan Tether, John Palmisano, Leo Stander, and Wi11i am Pedersen, Jr. -Emissions Trading Project, Offices of Policy and Resource Management & General Counsel, Washington, D.C.; Office of Air, Noise and Radiation, Research'Triangle Park, North Carolina Adelle Mitchell, Dwight Hoenig, William Honker, Marion Chandler, and Julie Coston - Underground Tnjection Contra! DeTegation Group, Water Mngt.Div., Region 6, Dal las, Texas INDIVIDUAL SILVER MEDAL FOR SUPERIOR SERVICE: John Bachmann - Environmental Engineer, Office of Air Noise and Radiation, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Paul Britton - Statistician, Environ- mental Monitoring and Support Labora- tory, Cincinnati, Ohio Stanley Laskowski - Director, Environmental Services Div., Region 3, Philadelphia, Pa. Carlton Layne - Consumer Safety Officer, Region 4, Lakeland, Florida Stephen Luftig - Chief, Planning and Evaluation Branch, Region 2, New York,N.Y. Steven Newburg-Rinn - Chief, Test Rules Development BrancTiT Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, Washington, D.C. John Seitz - Supervisory Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Pesti- cides and Toxic Substances, Washington,D.C. Kathleen Taimi - Environmental Engineer, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, D.C. L. Michael Watkins - Personnel Officer, Office of Administration, Cincinnati, Ohio Vernard Webb - Chief, Environmental Photo- graphic Interpretation Center, Environmental Monitoring Systems Lab , Las Vegas, Nevada GROUP SILVER MEDAL FOR SUPERIOR SERVICE: i:rnst Hall, Edward Dulaney, J. Daniel Berry, Gary Amendola, Terry Oda. Alexander McBride, Richard Healy, Narindar Kumar, Robert Raucher, and Robert Greene - Iron and Steel Team, Off ices aF~Water, Legal and Enforcement Counsel, and Policy and Resource Management, Washington, D.C.; Region 3, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Region 5, Chicago, Illinois G_era_l_d_ Emison, Wi I I iam Garetz, Casey Garrett, Luther Garrett, Joan LaRock, James McCormick, Jonathan Patton, Shirley Staton, and E Is ie Windsor - Administrator's Management Account- ability System Project Team, Off ice of Pol icy arid Resource Management, Washington, D.C. ADM INISTRATOR'S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE: Augustine Accurso - Clerk-Typist, Region 7, Kansas City, Missouri Ann Brash - Correspondence Clerk, Office of Public Affairs, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois L inda Carro 11 - Communications Management Specialist, Office of Administration, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Christina Denmark - Personnel Clerk, Office of Administration, Cincinnati, Ohio Anders Denson - General Supply Specialist, Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada Rebecca Pacheco - Administrative ClerlT, National Enforcement Investiga- tions Center, Denver, Colorado Debra yjjlarj - Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, D.C. Paul Wernsing - Biological Laboratory Technician, Health Effects Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio E1aine Williams - Secretary, Financial Management Division, Office of Fiscal and Contracts Management, Washington, D.C. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDAL Grady Helms - Chief, Control Programs Operations Branch, Office of Air, Noise and Radiation, Research Triangle Park, N. C. Anyone seeking additional information about the awards can ask for a copy of the 1982 Honor Awards Ceremony brochure which is being distributed to EPA Personnel Offices in the field as well as at Headquarters. ------- |