limes
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
~	Retirement Facts
~	Accurate or Precise?
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 5, 1984
There's No Stopping His Presses
As a Press Officer for
EPA's Office of Public
Affairs, Carl Gagliardi
spends his days gathering
facts, writing news releases,
and talking with reporters.
His area of expertise is all
the Agency activities re-
lated to the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act,
and he's good at his job.
When not behind a govern-
ment desk, Gagliardi works
with a different sort of
press, and he's a real
champ.
Gagliardi is a competition
powerlifter. Last month he
entered the Potomac Open
Bench Press Cham-
pionships. Although, un-
officially, he has bench-
pressed more than 400
pounds, he needed "only" a
360-pound lift to beat the
five other powerlifters in
his 181-pound weight class.
Powerlifting is a sister
sport to the better-known
Olympic weightlifting
which, Gagliardi says, it
may someday join as an
official event in the quad-
rennial games. Unlike cur-
rent Olympic lifting
events—the snatch and the
clean and jerk—which
stress speed and technique,
powerlifting emphasizes
pure strength.
The three powerlifting
events are the deadlift, the
squat, and the bench press.
The first two involve most-
ly the leg and back muscles.
The bench press requires
exceptional strength in the
upper body.
Gagliardi thinks it may be
some time before he com-
petes in a powerlifting
match in all three events
because his career doesn't
allow him the time he
needs to train for the squat
and the deadlift. Also, he
devotes some of his athletic
time to aerobic sports such
as playing racquetball and
sparring at a gym.
By concentrating on the
bench press and training at
a lower weight, Gagliardi
hopes to break the national
record for the 165-pound
weight class. He says that
powerlifters actually tend to
improve as they approach
age 40, so he is convinced
that he will have the time
to train to reach his goal
while pursuing his career in
government press relations.
Gagliardi, who is 30, has
been lifting weights as a
hobby for the past 12 years.
He next competes in the
181-pound class at the
Maryland Bench Press
Championships. We all
wish him good luck . . .
we'd be crazy not to! ~
Carl Gagliardi working out . . .
working in

-------
People
Agency Activities
Quality Step Increase awarded to: Gary Fonteyne, Ad-
ministration and Resources Management.
Special Act Awards presented to: Timothy Barry and
Debra Martin, Policy Planning and Evaluation.
Continued Superior Performance Awards to. Patricia
Lyttle, Sylvia Anderson, Vickie Thomas, Mary Free and
Stacey Grigsby, Policy Planning and Evaluation . . .
Minerva Moriole, Office of General Counsel . . . Carole
Willett and Linda Thompson, Enforcement and Com-
pliance Monitoring. ~
Available Information	
Selections from EPA Library ho/dings which may be of general interest to
employees.
Corporate Use of Information Regarding Natural Re-
sources and Environmental Quality, 1984. S936.T724
Environmental Audits. Edited by Lawrence Cahill,
1984. TD194.6.E54.
Regulatory Federalism: Policy, Process, Impact and
Reform. U.S Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental
Relations, 1984. JK325.R341984.
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book. U.S. Dept. of
Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1980. HA202.S84. ~
Training Opportunities	
The following courses ivill be held in the Headquarters Training Center.
For further information contact the Progream Assessment and Support
Branch at 382-2997.
Effective Writing for Professionals, December 5-7. A
practical workshop for professionals which teaches the
cumulative writing process and supplies step-by-step
guidelines for planning, composing, revising, and editing
documents.
Performance Management Systems Workshop, Decem-
ber 12. For new employees as well as newly appointed su-
pervisors and managers. Designed to assist in the prepara-
tion of performance standards. ~
The EPA Times is published 24 times per year to provide news and
information for and about EPA employees. Readers are encouraged to
submit news of themselves and of fellow employees, letters of opinion,
questions, comments, and suggestions to: Miles Allen, Editor, The EPA
Times, Office of Public Affairs (A-107). Telephone 382-4394. Information
selected for publication will be edited as necessary in keeping with
space available.
Results released of an agency survey on compliance
with 1982 Asbestos-In-School Rule. Field survey com-
pleted in January 1984 includes 1,800 public school dis^^
tricts and 800 private schools throughout the United Stat^
... 93 percent of America's school buildings have been in-
spected for asbestos and 35 percent of those inspected
have friable materials containing asbestos ... 67 percent
of the schools have voluntarily taken action to control the
asbestos in their buildings.
Rule proposed to regulate the handling and disposal of
wastes from the production of ethylene dibromide (EDB)
by adding them to list of hazardous wastes . . . Although
EDB production in this country is expected to decline as a
result of agency's suspension of its use as a soil and grain
fumigant and as a quarantine fumigant on citrus and other
fruits, almost 90 percent of all EDB is still being produced
as a gasoline additive. EDB is also produced as an inter-
mediate in producing other chemicals and as a solvent for
resins, gums, and waxes. Its use as a gasoline additive is
also expected to decline as agency's lead phase-down
regulations take effect.
Rohm & Haas Company notifies EPA that it will volun-
tarily suspend the sale and distribution of the pesticide
dinocap pending outcome of additional safety testing . . .
recent laboratory tests indicate that dinocap (trade name
Environmental News
A selection of noteworthy lines chosen from the 300-400 newspaper and
magazine articles on environmental matters which ive receive ever}' two
weeks
'"Up till about four years ago, there was a tremendous
amount of funds available from the federal government,
and the answer to the treatment problem was to build a
bigger plant,' said Bart Gilbert, president of General
Environmental Science Inc. Now that federal financing has
been slashed, more municipalities are becoming interested
in his microbes. These bugs, as they are known in the in-
dustry, digest sewage sludge and convert it to methane
gas, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water and other less
objectionable materials. 'Ten years ago, I'd get thrown out
of sewage treatment plant offices,' Gilbert said. 'But over
the past five years, we've seen the interest pick up.'"—The
Times-Picayune, 10/8.
"East Germany finally admits it is choking in pollution.
But it is too poor to clean up ... A UN report six months
ago identified East Germany as the most polluted country
in Europe . . . The government disputes the UN ranking
but has begun to take pollution seriously. In the 1980s it
has stopped arguing that since socialism has solved all so-
cial relations through worker ownership of the means of
production, pollution is exclusively a capitalist problem.
Now it says instead . . . that wherever you have produc-
tion you have pollution."—Christian Science Monitor,
10/5. ~

-------
Terms of Environment
Karathane) caused teratogenic effects (birth defects) in rab-
bits.
Regulations proposed to set limitations on use of tall
smokestacks to disperse air pollution from industrial
sources. Proposed regulations designed to help meet the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for sulfur dioxide
and other pollutants. States would be required to de-
termine what methods other than tall stacks should be part
of their clean air plans for given cases. ~
~ ~~~~~~~
Do you know of any EPA employee who has
achieved prominence in his or her avocation? Are
you aware of truly exceptional work being done by
dii eiupluyee ui group of employees to advance llit:
Agency's mission? If so, you are Invited to submit
articles nr ideas for articles to The EPA Times A snh-
jent of interest tn ynnr office mates may well be of
interest to all of us. Let us know!
~ ~~~~~~~
A debate between a few scientist/engineer types in our
ranks has degenerated to the point that one of them actual-
ly called The EPA Times for advice. Since we are usually
reduced to creating these columns entirely on our own ini-
tiative, we are overjoyed to contribute our two-cents-worth
on the distinction between the terms accurate and precise.
In a couple of senses, these two terms are interchange-
able. The term "correct" is an equally legitimate synonym
for both "accurate" and "precise." Also, our dictionary
gives identical secondary definitions for each: "conforming
exactly or to a standard."
There is, however, a useful distinction between the pri-
mary definitions of the two terms. "Accurate" means nu
error. "Precise" means sharply defined.
Thus, by our interpretation, if a gauge reads in tons-per-
square-foot and you desire data in ounces-per-square-inch,
llie instrument may well be accurate, but it is not precise
enough for your purposes. The reverse of this would he a
gauge which provides data in minute gradations but is not
working properly. In that case, you have a precise instru-
ment which gives inaccurate readings.
Ideally, we suppose, the best instruments are both pre-
cise and accurate. ~
"Southern California may have turned a corner in its
battle against smog, the South Coast Air Quality Manage-
ment District said Wednesday. The district said the 1984
smog season—from mid-April to mid-October—marked the
first year since the district began keeping records in 1955
that there were no second-stage smog alerts."—Los Angeles
Times, 10/25.
"Polaroid Corp. sued the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency for "unlawful dissemination" of its trade secrets
. . . Polaroid contends that reporting the use of certain
chemicals, as is required under EPA law, is tantamount to
informing a 'knowledgeable person' of their use in Polar-
oid's manufacturing processes . . . The issues apply broad-
ly to thousands of chemical companies that submit in-
formation to the EPA."—Wall St. Journal, 10/24.
"A contract for an experimental boiler that the electric
utility industry regards as a promising solution to acid
rain and other power plant problems could be awarded to-
day by the Tennessee Valley Authority . . . The boiler,
which uses fluidized bed combustion, interests electric
utilities for several reasons. Limestone can be injected into
the boiler to help remove pollution-causing sulfur from
^¦ll during combustion rather than using the current
more-expensive scrubbers to remove sulfur from smoke.
The boilers also operate at lower temperatures than con-
ventional boilers, thus reducing the amount of nitrous ox-
ide emitted when the coal is burned."—Wail St. Journal,
10/30.
"Minnesota's year-old Superfund law . . . lays out a
new, strict standard for liability in the case of personal in-
jury, if that injury can be traced to the delayed effects of
toxic material. The standard is so tough that the insurance
industry has taken an unusual step: It has stopped writ-
ing personal-liability coverage in Minnesota for damages
stemming from 'non-sudden' pollution."—Wail St. Journal,
10/23.
"The Netherlands, a tightly packed country the size of
Maryland with the groundwater conditions of Florida and
the industrial mix of Texas' Gulf Coast, is a prime candi-
date for toxic waste headaches. In fact, it has migraines . . .
Last year the government ordered an inventory of
hazardous waste sites . . . [which] showed that Holland,
packed with petrochemical, chemical and steel industries,
contains 1,000 waste sites posing direct risks to health and
the country's groundwater supplies."—Engineering News
and Record, 10/4.
"The National Guard wants to condemn 114,000 acres of
land near McMinnville, Tenn., for such training exercises
as tank manuevers, helicopter gunship runs and artillery
practice . . . Included in the area, however, is Hubbard's
Cave . . . 250,000 gray and Indiana bats hibernate each
winter in the cave . . . The bats are on the federal gov-
ernment's list of endangered species."—Waii Street Jour-
nal, 10/30.

-------
Minority Business Work Applauded
Agency programs, in-
dividual employees, and
contractors who have made
outstanding contributions
in furthering EPA's socio-
economic program goals
were honored at the
Second Annual Administra-
tor's Awards Ceremony for
Small and Disadvantaged
Businesses, November 26.
A1 Aim, Deputy Adminis-
trator of EPA, presented
four plaques for achieve-
ment and four certificates
for outstanding support to
those who have helped the
Agency exceed its National
"fair share" minority busi-
ness development objective:
$247 million during FY
1984.
The Program Management
and Support Division of the
Office of Pesticides and
Toxic Substances receive
The Administrator's
Award for Outstanding
Agency Program Achieve-
ment. John Carley, William
Grosse, Robert Legg, and
Louis True were specifically
recognized for their utiliza-
tion of small and dis-
advantaged businesses. Be-
tween FY 1979 and 1984,
the Division placed $18.5
million, or 45 percent of its
acquisition budget, with
socioeconomic firms. The
Division recently awarded
$10.9 million in contracts
for computer services to
two 8(a) firms.
A second Administrator's
Award for Outstanding
Agency Program Achieve-
ments was accepted by
John Martin, EPA's In-
spector General. The Office
of Inspector General has let
60 percent or more of its
contract dollars to small
and disadvantaged firms
over the last 7 years. During
FY 1984, ten 8(a) firms
were awarded $1.4 million
for contract audit services.
The award for Outstand-
ing Individual Achieve-
ments in Furthering the
Agency's Socioeconomic
Program Goals and Objec-
tives went to David
Stephan, Director of the In-
dustrial Environmental Re-
search Laboratory in Cin-
cinnati. Stephan's diligent
promotion has played a ma-
jor role in the awarding of
approximately $17.5 mil-
lion in research and de-
velopment contracts to
small and disadvantaged
firms this year.
Mr. Harlan Moyer,
President of CH2M Hill,
accepted a plaque for
Outstanding Prime Con-
tractor Achievements in
Furthering the Agency's
Socioeconomic Program
Goals and Objectives. Dur-
ing FY 1984, 65 percent of
the subcontracted dollars
was committed to small
business concerns and 23
percent was committed to
small disadvantaged busi-
nesses.
Aim presented a certifi-
cate to Matthew Robbins
for Outstanding Contribu-
tions in Furthering Socio-
economic Programs in Re-
gion 4. As Program Manage-
ment Coordinator in the re-
gion's Water Management
Division, Robbins was a
prime mover in the award-
ing of $41 million in sub-
contracts to minority busi-
ness enterprises during FY
1984. This amount ex-
ceeded the established fair
share objective by $10 mil-
lion.
A certificate for Out-
standing Contributions in
Furthering MBE and WBE
Utilization Programs went
to Region 6, which awarded
$41.9 million to minority-
owned firms and $6.2 mil-
lion to women-owned busi-
nesses this year. In FY
1983, the figures were $35.6
million and $2.8 milliojg^
respectively.
Dale Roberson and John
Oliver each received certifi-
cates for Outstanding Sup-
port and Contributions in
Furthering the Agencies
Socioeconomic Program
Goals and Objectives. They
developed a contract plan-
ning system enabling ad-
vanced identification of
acquisition opportunities
for potentially small busi-
nesses and set-asides. In
addition they created the
Contract Information Sys-
tem that tracks contract
awards to socioeconomic
business concerns.
The federal government's
commitment to promoting
an economic environment
favorable to small firms was
reinforced by Public Law
95-507, which requires each
agency having procurement
authority to establish and
Office of Small and Dis-
advantaged Business I
Utilization. EPA employees
can be proud of the efforts
of our OSDBU, the leaders
cited at the awards cere-
mony, and all Agency staf-
fers whose cooperation and
assistance helped the Agen-
cy to exceed its goals. ~
The facts about retire-
ment dates have not always
been perfectly clear (as a
correspondent in our last
issue so kindly pointed
out). So, with the advice
and consent of the head-
quarters Office of Per-
sonnel, we shall attempt
further clarification.
There are three types of
retirements. "Disability Re-
tirements" and "Discontin-
ued Service Retirements"
(based on involuntary sep-
arations) are special cases
and are exceptions to the
following rules.
Retirement Facts
For standard retirements,	to federal employees in when annuities begin is
Civil Service annuities com-	choosing retirement dates. perhaps best shown in the
mence on the first day of	The relation between following chart,
the month following the	retirement date and the date
month in which retirement 	:	—	
occurs, except for retire-	Effective Date Date Annuities
ments which are effective	of Retirement 	Begin	
within the first three days	, _ „ _ .
of any month.	Jsnusry 31	February 1
This exception was ere-	.	_
ated by Congress to allow	February 1	February 2
members of Congress to
qualify for Medicare if they	February 2	February 3
retired at the end of 1982.
However, the question of	February 3	February 4
qualifying for Medicare was	'
peculiar to that time, and is	FebTU3Ty 4	March 1
no longer of any relevance

-------