United States Environmental Protection Agency Issue No. 19 January 24, 1983 Page 73 oEPA TIMES A Publication for EPA Employees EPA Launches New Personnel Executive Development Program More Retirement EPA is starting two new executive development proyrams, Changes the Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Program and This is the second article on the SES Incumbent Program. These programs were approved recent changes to the Civil by the Administrator and the Executive Resources Board Service Retirement System, (ERB), and are considered key strategies for building which resulted from passage strong leadership and executive management capabilities of PL 97-253, effective Octo- within the Agency, ber 1, 1982. The amendments are designed to improve the The SES Candidate Program is designed for indivi- administration of the system, duals who have served in GS/GM-15 or equivalent positions as well as to reduce the in EPA or other Federal agencies. The objective of the growth of Federal expendi- program is to develop a cadre of highly trained managers tures, while equitably serv- to meet future Agency needs. During the first year, up ing Federal employees and to 6 individuals will be selected to participate in a their survivors. The follow- 12-month developmental assignment tailored to their de- ing information summarizes velopment needs, the changes as they relate to various aspects of the Civil Locations for development assignments, both in Head- Service Retirement law. quarters and in the Regions, will be determined by the ERB. Headquarters and Regional officials who wish to sponsor Commencing Date of development assignments should contact Ken Wright on the Annuities: Executive Development Staff. Under previous provisions of the law, annuities were ef- The SES Candidate Program will be advertised fective on the day following through March 1, 1983 in an announcement which provides the employee's separation. detailed information on the contents of the program, Annuities now begin on the qualifications requirements, and application procedures, first day of the month after Mobility is a requirement for participation, the month in which the re- tirement occurs. This pro- The SES Incumbent Program is designed for current mem- vision only applies to op- bers of the SES, and is based on the individual Development tional retirement and does Planning Guide which all SES members complete as part of not apply to disability annu- their annual performance appraisal cycle. The individual ities, survivor annuities, or needs identified during this process are translated into annuities based on involun- specific training actions which help executives gain per- tary separation. spective and insight into their professional careers and serve as a basis for improving their skills. Rounding Down of Annuities; Comprehensive briefings will be provided for Assistant In the past, annuities were Administrators, Regional Administrators, members of the Se- rounded off to the nearest nior Executive Service, and SES Candidate Program-eligibles whole dollar. Annuities are during January. For further information regarding these now rounded to the next programs, contact the Executive Development Staff on 382- lowest whole dollar. This 3356. Continued on back page ------- 74 New Information Service A new information service has been estab- lished at EPA headquarters to keep Agency managers informed about television environ- mental news coverage. The new service provides a twice-daily summary of national television news coverage of significance to EPA. Most of the material will be taken from the network evening news shown the pre- vious day. This will be supplemented, when possible,, by the morning news shows, special interview programs such as seg- ments from Face the Nation, and internal- ly produced videotaped messages. Initially these summaries will be shown for Headquarters closed circuit TV monitors at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. daily. These times have been selected to present a complete roundup of the news as soon as possible. EPA Official Heads Chemists' Group EPA Takes Westinghouse To Court EPA has initiated court action against the Westinghouse Electric Corporation over the disposal of wastes containing PCBs (poly- chlorinated biphenyls) at two sites at Bloomington, Ind. The complaint, filed in the the U.S. District Court at Indianapolis, alleges that Westinghouse discarded electric capacitators containing PCBs at Neal's Landfill and at Neal's Dump. The capa- citators are exposed and leaking at both sites, EPA said. At Neal's Landfill, which is included on EPA's national priority list of 418 hazardous waste sites, the waste has mi- grated through groundwater into a nearby stream system, according to the suit. At Neal's Dump, PCBs may be migrating off the dump site through surface runoff and ground- water. EPA asked for a preliminary injunction requiring Westinghouse to install runoff containment measures and remove exposed capacitors and contaminated soil at Neal's Landfill, and to fence both sites. The Agency also requested that the court order Westinghouse to plan and carry out final remedial actions at the two sites. Warren R. Bontoyan, Chief, Chemical and Biological Investi- gations Branch, OPTS, has been elected Presi- dent of the Association of Analytical Chemists (AOAC). Bontoyan, a fellow of the AOAC and the American Institute of Chemists, is the first EPA scientist to hold this office. The EPA laboratories in Beltsville, MD, which he directs, are concerned with pes- ticide residues, pesticide degradation, toxic impurities and/or contaminants associated with pesticides in technical materials, commercial products, and the environment. In addition to their lab- oratory contributions to EPA, Bontoyan and his colleagues provide laboratory assistance to state, municipal and for- eign government laboratories. Bontoyan, editor of EPA's Manual of Chem- ical Methods for Pesticides and Devices, published by AOAC, has written approx- imately 25 publications in this field and has made numerous presentations at nation- al and international meetings on special studies and the analysis of pesticides. He is listed in Who's Who in America. Booklet on EPA Available to Public A 24-page booklet describing the or- ganization and programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now available at the Agency's national and regional offices. "Your Guide to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency" provides brief summaries of the major environmental statutes ad- ministered by EPA and the programs established to carry then out. The organizational structure of the Agency is also depicted. Single copies may be obtained without charge. Write to: Public Inquiries Center (PM-211-B), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. 20460. ------- 75 OPA Reorganization Proposed Clay Jones Earl Voss Clay Jones, EPA's Deputy Chief of Staff for External Affairs, has been named by Admini- strator Anne M. Gorsuch to serve as Acting Director of the Agency's Office of Public Affairs. Jones replaces Byron Nelson III in this post and will serve until a permanent dir- ector is chosen. Nelson has accepted an appointment as Special Assistant for Policy Management on the immediate staff of Dr. John Todhunter, Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Jones came to EPA last September from Rockwell International under the President's Executive Exchange program. At Rockwell, Jones was a Director of Business Development for the company's North American Aircraft Operations. Paul Schuette In other proposed changes, Earl Voss, v/ho has been Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Sol id Waste and Emergency Response, became Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs. When approved by the Administrator, the reorganized office will consist of three branches. The branches and the chiefs for each one are: News Media Relations, Richard Hoffmann, (acting); Publications and Writing Services, Paul Schuette; and Program Services, Inez Artico. Jones explained that the purpose of the reorganizations is to provide a staff structure that will be more effective in responding to EPA's program needs as well as presenting Agency activities to external audiences. EPA Begins New External Newsletter EPA started publication last week of a new external newsletter, EPA UPDATE, to provide more information about Agency ac- tions and activities to its various con- stituencies and the general public. The four-page newsletter will be published every other week by the Office of Public Affairs. The publication is avail- able by subscription from the Government Printing office at a cost of $32 a year in the U.S. Copies of the new publication will be available at EPA's libraries. EPA UPDATE will provide brief, sum- mary reports on a wide range of Agency actions. Each issue also will include a Calendar listing upcoming hearings, meetings and other events. EPA Times will be continued as the Agency's internal newsletter. Settlement Was Fair, Court Says The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has reaffirmed its approval of a consent decree under which 24 firms agreed to do $7.7 million in surface cleanup work at the Seymour Recy- cling Corp. hazardous waste site. In a memorandum opinion, the court concluded that the settlement was fair even though other companies not covered by the decree may eventually have to pay more than the firms that settled. "The government's action in entering into this decree is reasonable and is in the public interest," the court said. "In reaching this determination, the court has particularly considered the need to abate the hazardous conditions at the site as expeditiously as possible and the una- vailability of any other prcmpt plan to undertake the cleanup." ------- 76 Atlantic Dump Site Proposed EPA has proposed designating an Atlantic Ocean site about 100 nautical miles off the New Jersey coast as an approved dump site for both industrial wastes and muni- cipal sewage treatment sludges. The so-called 106-mile site was ap- proved on an interim basis in 1973. It has been used primarily as a disposal site for industrial wastes. Under the new EPA proposal, approval of the site for the disposal of sludge would be for a five-year period. Studies of the effects of dumping sludge would be conducted during that time. EPA also announced that it is con- sidering petitions frcm New York and New Jersey agencies for the redesignation of the 12-mile site and the 60-mile site, both closer to them, as sludge dumping locations. Use of these sites was to have ended by December 31, 1981, but continued dumping was authorized by court order. Canments on the future of designation of all three sites will be accepted through February 18. They should be sent to T.A. Wastler, Chief, Marine Protection Branch (WH-585), EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460. Those who want additional infor- mation may call Wastler at (202) 755-0356. PERSONNEL (continued) provision applies to annu- ities which began on or after October 1, 1982, as well as to any adjustments (including cost-of-living) or redeterminations made on or after October 1, 1982. Disability Retirement: In the past, a disability annuity would be terminated if the retiree earned more than 80% of the current salary of the position fran which retired (grade and step) for two consecutive years. The annuity continued for a one- year grace period before actual termination. Effective for income earned during calendar year 1983 and beyond, the period to determine whether a disability annuitant has been restored to earning capacity has been shortened frcm the current 2 years to one year; and the grace period during which annuity payments may continue after earning cap- acity has been restored, is shortened frcm 1 year to 6 months. Affected annuitants are required to report their earnings on or before Feb- ruary 15 each year. Discontinued Service Annuity: In the past, employees who were involuntarily separat- ed for reasons other than misconduct or delinquency (primarily job abolishment or RIF) and were at least age 50 with 20 years of service, or who had 25 years of service, were entitled to an immediate annuity even if they declined offers of a position at the same grade and pay. Employees in this situation who decline reason- able offers of other posi- tions are now no longer eligi- ble for discontinued service retirement. A reasonable offer is defined as a position in the same agency and ccm- muting area for which the employee is qualified, and which is no more than two grades below the employee's current grade. Personnel U.S. Savings Bonds Now Paying 11.09% U.S. Savings Bonds are now paying competitive, market- based rates under recent legislation passed by Congress. The current rate, effective through April 30, 1983, is 11.09 Percent. Under the recently signed law, Savings Bonds will pay variable interest rates pegged at 85 per- cent of the average return on 5-year Treasury market- able securities. Currently that translates to the 11.09 figure. Bonds may be cashed in at any time six months after purchase, but draw full, market-based rates only when held five years or longer. Interest rates on the new bonds may rise with the mar- ket, but may never fall be- low 7.5 percent when held the full five years. Bonds held less than five years yield pro-rated returns, de- pending on the period held. The new, market-based bonds, called Series EE, are available to EPA employees through payroll savinqs, or may be purchased over the counter at banks in $25 denominations. Most old Series E Bonds can also draw the new, higher in- terest rates. Contact the EPA payroll office for complete de- tails. 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 EPA employees. It is punched with three holes for binding for future reference. ------- |