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

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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

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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.

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«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.

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