Issue No. 29 August 1983 United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Public Affairs (A-107) Washington DC 20460 Publication mi^m bhmh^, a hmmh m im —iliWiHi iiPHh EPE™ vvEPA TIMES Do lores E. Young, retiring after 41 years' service with the federal government, receives a plaque from Glen L. Sjoblom, director of the Office of Radiation Programs. Mrs. Young, a secretary in ORP, began her government career at the Department of Agriculture on April 2, 1942. She joined the Atomic Energy Commission in 1963, and became part of the original staff of ORP when EPA was created in 1970. A life long D.C. resident, Mrs. Young holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and a master's degree in English from Howard University. EPA To Establish Its Own Pay System EPA has decided to operate its own payroll/personnel system using a local variation of the Department of In- terior's DIPS System which has served the Agency's payroll needs up to now. Interior is consolidating all of its payroll/personnel systems into the PAY/PERS system located in Denver, Other EPA's choices were to join PAY/ PERS, too, or select another source for payroll/personnel processing. To insure a smooth conversion, a special Task Force has been es- tablished to implement the in-house system. Work has already begun on the conversion effort and the Task Force anticipates that the in-house system should be fully operational early in fiscal year 1984. With the possible exception of some minor revisions in payroll-related forms, EPA employees will not experi- ence any changes in the existing payroll process. Clark Keeps Data Flowing Despite Budget Slash There was good news and there was bad news as EPA's Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory was in the midst of major monitoring studies two years ago. The bad news was an $800,000 cut in the lab's $1.3 million budget for computer timesharing. The reduction threatened the lab's Love Canal study, its National Acid Rain Deposition Net- work and other projects in process. The good news was Jon B. Clark, chief of the Data Management Branch at EMSL, who redesigned 12 major data processing systems, cutting timesharing costs by 60 percent and enabling the lab to meet its time sche- dules. Clark was honored for that achieve- ment recently, receiving one of the two managerial awards conferred gov- ernmentwide by the Interagency Com- mittee on Automatic Data Processing. The committee is comprised of senior data processing officials from virtually all federal agencies. The EPA branch chief was cited for his "outstanding effort" which en- sured that "many major environmen- tal study schedules and objectives were met." Clark joined the federal government in 1970 as a systems analyst with the N.C. Research Triangle Computing Center of the pre-EPA National Air Pollution Control Administration. He transferred in 1972 to EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards in Durham where he served until assuming his present post in 1979. A native of Williamston, N.C., Clark earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina. He also received a Con- gressional Fellowship and a Ford Foundation Fellowship for a year's study at Cornell University. Charter Member' of EPA Retires ------- Senate Confirms EPA Appointments Of Aim, Messner Two more top executive posts were filled at EPA with Senate confirma- tions of Alvin L. Aim as Deputy Admi- nistrator and Howard M. Messner as Assistant Administrator for Adminis- tration. Both Aim and Messner had served the Agency earlier. Aim was Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management at EPA from 1973 to 1977, leaving here to be- come Assistant Secretary of Policy and Evaluation at the Department of Energy. Since October 1981, he has been a lecturer and director of the En- ergy Security Program at Harvard Un- iversity's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He began his federal government service with the Atomic Energy Com- mission in 1961 after receiving a mas- ter's degree in public administration from Syracuse University. Aim later held a series of environment-related posts at the Office of Management and Budget and he was a consultant to the President's Council on Environmental Quality for three years prior to joining EPA. He received the Arthur S. Fleming Award in 1975 as one of 10 out- standing people in government and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal in 1979. Aim, 46, is a native of Denver and he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Denver. Messner, the new Assistant Admi- nistrator for Administration, served as deputy in that office from 1971 to 1975. He returns to EPA from the De- partment of Energy, where he had served as Controller since March 1983. During 23 years of federal service, Messner also has served as Assistant Director for Management Im- provement and Evaluation at the Office of Management and Budget and as Assistant Director of Management Programs at the Congressional Budget Office. Messner, 45, received a bachelor's degree from Antioch College and a master's from the Graduate School of Government at the University of Massachusetts. In 1971, he received the William A. Jump Memorial Award for distinguished vice in public ad- ministration. AJvin L. Aim EPA Adopts Two Changes in PMS System EPA announced two changes recently in its Performance Management Sys- tem (PMS). The changes are part of continuing efforts to improve the effectiveness of the PMS system with- in the Agency. The mid-level of the performance range has been changed from "Satis- factory" to "Fully Successful" for all employees evaluated under the PMS system. The change more accurately describes the fact that employees per- forming at the mid-range fully meet performance expectations, and are tru- ly fully successful employees. The change is solely a matter of terminolo- gy and has no substantive effect on other aspects of the system. The second change affects only Merit Pay employees. The pay matrix for Merit Pay has been changed to provide Pool Managers the capability to pay an amount equal to the amount of the comparability increase to their "Fully Successful" employees. This has been accomplished by setting the "minimum" percentage for the "Fully Successful" level on the matrix at the same percentage as the annual com- parability increase. Because EPA's matrix must function within the es- tablished legal and regulatory framework, the actual percentage per- missible continues to be dependent on the comparability figure set by the President and Congress. Questions about these changes should be addressed to your servicing Personnel Office. Three Employees Get Pins Marking 30 Years' Service Assistant Administrator Howard Messner presented 30-year service pins to three headquarters employees during a recent awards ceremony. Receiving the pins were James M. Keys, chief of EPA's Public Informa- tion Center; Charles S. Mooney, pub- lic information specialist in the Public Information Center, and Harold Mas- ters, an EPA Library employee. Keys began his government service in the U.S. Information Agency. He served five years as a public affairs officer at the American Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, and seven years at embassies in Latin America, followed by three years in the U.S. Department of State. Keys transferred from foreign serv- ice to civil service and joined the De- partment of Interior's water pollution program. In 1970, he came to the newly-created EPA —first in Man- power Development and Training, then in the Office of Public Affairs. Keys has received several Su^j Service awards, including one Edward R. Murrow, then Direct? USIA; and one from Walter Hickel, former Secretary of Interior. His hob- bies include jogging, swimming, canoeing and tennis. Charles S. Mooney began his federal service with a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. Upon his discharge, he was employed at the old National Li- brary of Medicine and the U.S. Public Health Service. He was later detailed to the U.S. Department of Interior, where he set up the Water Pollution Library Section. Mooney was subsequently reas- signed as Publications Technician to the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. He established a pub- lications unit in the FWPCA informa- tion office. He was then transferred to EPA as Publications Specialist, where he established a publications office for Public Inquiries. Mooney plans to retire in a couple of years. His hobbies are cooking and classical music. Harold Masters' first federal employ- ment was with the U.S. Navy, transferred to the U.S. Public Hi Service. Masters was part of the original staff of the Office of Administration when the Agency was created. employ- m ------- Jerry Yetter Financial Management 382-5116 Roz Simms Personnel Management 382-5217 Juanita Smith Facilities and Support Services 382-HELP Tom Yates Procurement and Contracts 382-5020 Got a Problem? Client Service Reps Can Help Do you have a question about health insurance? Parking? Paychecks? Your client service representative (CSR) problably has the answer. The Office of Administration set up CSR positions in four divisions a year ago to respond to employees' ques- tions and concerns and to market and evaluate services. The program has produced faster and better service de- livery in many areas, OA reports. CSRs are currently working in Per- sonnel Management (health and life insurance benefits, training), Facilities and Support Services (parking, trans- portation, telecommunications, building maintenance), Financial Management (paychecks, voucher pro- cessing, travel advances), and Pro- curement and Contracts (small purch- ases, contract difficulties). Employees should feel free to con- tact the appropriate client service representative whenever they need help with a problem. The CSRs are ready and willing to assist. They usually are able to cut through red tape and find a quick solution. OA would welcome any comments or suggestions about the CSR program Send them to: Client Services Staff, Room M2107, Mail Code PM-215. Pgency Drops ay First' Rule on FOIA Requests Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus has rescinded a policy requiring pay- ment in advance of the estimated costs of fulfilling Freedom of Informa- tion requests. The prepayment rule was put into effect March 17, 1983. The Agency is going back to its former policy of releasing records re- quested under the Freedom of In- formation Act (FOIA) as long as the parties asking for the material give assurances that they'll pay any costs. Under FOIA, the government can charge fees for search time and photocopying. EPA waives any pay- ment when the fees amount to less than $10. Ruckelshaus said he wanted the prepayment rule withdrawn in order to assure full public access to Agency records. Some members of Congress and other individuals had criticized the rule as an impediment to meeting requirements of FOIA. ^In addition to rescinding the March Hie, Ruckelshaus called for an overall review of EPA's policy on FOIA fees. A new policy will be proposed by November that balances reimburse- ment needs against the Agency's responsibility to be open and respon- sive to the public's requests for in- formation, he said. EPA receives about 7500 FOIA re- quests a year. EPA Employees S.O.M.E. by Mike Flynn and Patricia Minami Although all of us are aware of the tragedy of world hunger, many are not as cognizant of the realities of hunger for a growing number of people in the metropolitan area. More than a year ago, a group of EPA employees be- came involved in helping alleviate this problem by volunteering at a lo- cal soup kitchen, "So Others Might Eat: (S.O.M.E.). Located on O Street N.W., S.O.M.E. provides two daily meals and other services, primarily to the homeless. EPA volunteers participate in S.O.M.E.'s Provide-a-Meal program, supplying the food and preparing specific meals on preassigned days. The EPA group is now providing a full breakfast for 150 to 200 persons the first Friday of each month. The main course usually consists of scram- bled eggs and grits or french toast. Individuals from the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response started this volunteer effort. The group is now composed of present and former OSWER employees Richard Allen, Peter Guerrero, Steve Maier, Mike Flynn, Mike Burns, David Colbert, Kathy Kohl and Scott Sprin- ger. They say participation in S.O.M.E. and seeing the tangible re- sult of their efforts has been very rewarding. S.O.M.E. was established 11 years ago as a soup kitchen for the homeless by Father H. McKenna, a Jesuit priest. The kitchen served one meal a day to about 35 people. S.O.M.E.'s programs have grown substantially under John Adams, the current director, who started the Provide-a-Meal program six years ago. With the assistance of some 66 volunteer groups, S.O.M.E. now serves breakfast and lunch 365 days a year. It also provides dental and medical care, and social services such as alcoholism counseling to 600 to 700 people a day. Interested in helping? For more in- formation on volunteering, contact Mary Mitchell, S.O.M.E. coordinator (797-8806), or Richard Allen, OSWER (382-4485). Contributions of food, time, effort and/or money are always welcome. ------- «STS?"3' Region 2 helicopter collects a water sample at a New York area beach, part of a monitoring pro- gram that helps protect the health of swimmers along New Jersey and Long Island shorelines. Sam pies are analyzed at EPA lab in Edison, N.J. EPA Chopper Checks Beaches In Region 2 When EPA's Region 2 tells beach- goers, "Come on in, the water's fine," they can rely on it. The region again this summer is sending its blue and white helicopter along the New Jersey and Long Island ocean beaches, collecting samples to check how safe the water is for swim- mers. The samples are analyzed at the Agency's laboratory in Edison, N.J. The program also includes a tele- phone hotline people can call to re- port oil spills, beach washups or other pollutants. The toll-free number in New York is (800) 631-5316; in New Jersey, (800) 272-1108. Beach water conditions have gener- ally been good since the serious 1976 washups which closed many beaches and helped launch the EPA helicopter monitoring program. "The 1976 pollution was aggravated by particular meteorological and marine conditions which have not reoccurred," said Jacqueline E. Schaf- er, Region 2 Administrator. Miss Schafer pointed out the value of the monitoring program in light of the millions of New Yorkers, New Jerseyites and visitors who use the be- aches every summer. "The helicopter, which we are using for the seventh summer, vastly increases our sampling speed, frequency and range over the sampling done by boat in ear lier years," she added. EPA measures a number of para- meters in varying combinations at the 130 sampling stations along the entire Atlantic coast of New Jersey and most of Long Island's south shore. Included are dissolved oxygen, nutrients, sus- pended solids, heavy metals, organics, salt content, temperature, and pathogen and virus levels, in addition to bacteria counts. The data obtained on the beach water conditions are coordinated with several federal and state health and environmental agencies, and relayed to local health departments to aid them in their decisions on beach ac- cess postings and other water advisor- ies to the public. Six Join EPA For Summer In Fellows Program The Environmental Science and Engineering Fellows Program has selected its 1983 AAAS/EPA Summer Fellows and the six recipients are now embarked on 10-week stints with EPA. The program, initiated in 1980, is one of a number of outreach activities designed to identify and evaluate long-term environmental issues. Candidates are sought from the natural and social sciences, engineering and other appropriate fields. Applications are solicited from many sources, including universities, industrial laboratories, nonprofit orga- nizations, and various other entities which have an interest in the environ- mental area. The 1983 fellows and their areas of expertise are: Rafael Rob, Brown Uni- versity, economic incentives program; William Mitsch, University of Louis- ville, classification and evaluation of aquatic ecosystem models; Thomas Pierce, Alabama University, toxicolo- gy (dermal and pulmonary absorp- tion); Ann Williams, Auburn Univer- sity Department of Zoology and Entomology, effects of ocean dumping on ecosystems; Jane Rissler, Univer- sity of Maryland's Department of Botany, the fate of biological pesti- cides; and Patrick Sullivan, Indiana, ground water/ hazardous waste. Fellowships are awarded through a formal selection process by a panel of environmental professionals. The pan- el is balanced with representatives from the academic community, gov- ernment, the private sector, industry, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fel- lowship programs, EPA and AAAS. Applications from each candidate are fully reviewed by several members of the selection committee. The finalists are judged on their background, demonstrated competence in some . areas of science, engineering, or oth« relevant discipline, ability to com- " municate articulately, both orally and in writing. ------- |