s:Em
Times
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
~	A Moving PIC
~	Leave Year Ends
~	Open Season Begins
VOLUME 4
NUMBER 2
NOVEMBER 1986
Join the Club ... Please!
Have you ever wanted to
attend professional society
meetings but never had the
time? That barrier has now
fallen. EPA's commitment
to human resources man-
agement and enhancement
of employee careers was
boosted recently when Ad-
ministrator Lee Thomas
signed an "all-employee"
policy on Participation in
Professional Societies and
Associations.
Development of the policy
took nearly two years from
drafting by the Office of
Human Resources Manage-
ment to consideration and
refinement by the Agency's
Scientific and Technical
Careers Advisory Com-
mittee and the EPA Human
Resources Council. Credit
for the original idea goes to
the Agency's Women In
Science and Engineering
group, which gained the
early support of Deputy Ad-
ministrator Jim Barnes.
The policy endorses par-
ticipation and active leader-
ship roles in professional
societies, and support of
publications in academic
disciplines important to the
mission of the Agency. It
calls for staff initiative in
such matters and spells out
the roles of both employees
and supervisors.
Office heads are directed
to set aside sufficient funds
for staff attendance at rele-
vant professional society
conferences.
Employees, after consulting
with their supervisors, must
i
Adminislralor Lee Thomas signs policy on participation in
professional societies as members of the Scientific and Technical
Careers Advisory Committee look on.
be allowed reasonable time
to prepare for and attend
committee meetings. The
policy permits staff who are
willing to devote personal
funds for travel and per
diem to be granted excused
absence (leave not charged)
for participation in national
or regional conclaves if
mission-related.
Supervisors are directed
to encourage employees to
organize or chair sessions,
present papers, and
submit articles to
poor-reviewed journals.
They must generally pay
their own membership fees
and dues, but EPA may
obtain membership in its
own name when appropri-
ate.
Questions may be ad-
dressed to OHRM at (FTS)
382-3311. ~
GSA Plans Efficient Conquest of Space
The General Services Ad-
ministration (GSA) recently
unveiled a new space man-
agement plan to help feder-
al agencies control office
sprawl, meet deficit-era
budget constraints, and im-
prove the quality of the
working environment.
GSA Administrator Ter-
ence C. Golden said his
goal is to optimize the use
of the space we occupy. He
insisted that the workplace
should be "an intelligently
designed, attractive, effi-
cient, and people-oriented
environment." He is con-
vinced that agencies can
comply with the President's
mandate to cut space and at
the same time provide state-
of-the-art settings and tech-
nologies to upgrade em-
ployee morale and effi-
ciency.
"In the past," Golden
said, "everybody thought
the way to save space and
money was to crunch peo-
ple together." Today. GSA
has adopted a much more
sophisticated approach.
One kev element of the
plan is consolidation. Thir-
teen cabinet departments
in the Washington. DC area
are housed in 442 locations.
The Department of the
Treasury is spread over 5(5
locations, the Department of
Defer00 96 and the Depart-
ment ot Justice 58. Im-
mediate savings from con-
solidation include eliminat-
ing travel time and shuttle
service between offices, and
centralizing procurement,
personnel, duplicating, and
(Continued on buck.)

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People
Around EPA
Special Act Awards presented to: Lenora Simms, Kay
Pettitt, Linda Pennington, Clifford More, Antoinette
Thomas, Dorothy Patten, Rose Harvell, Ann Johnson,
Mary Gundlach, Mary Bolten, Richard Frank, Margaret
Hawkins, Randall Bond, Ron Cullember, Patricia Savage,
Danna Bruce, Morris Altschuler, Nancy Kawtoski, Robert
Bridges, Barry Goldfarb, Michael Haley, Alvin Edwards,
Darlene Cockfield, Dawn Beall, Maureen Sinicki,
Roxanne Settle, Rebecca Parrott, James McCarty, Sharita
McLean, Lorraine Inglis. and Paul Shapiro. Research and
Development . . . Karen Hoffman, David Kling, Debbie
Allen, Lawrence Cullen, Karen McCormack, Lavonne
Love, and Janet Peck. Pesticides and Toxic Substances . . .
Ray Spears, Office of General Counsel . . . Tonya Minor.
Administration and Resources Management . . . Diane
Bazzle, Office of the Administrator . . . R.A. Edwards,
David Cohen, Christian Rice, John Kasper, Martha Casey,
Jill Collins, Dave Ryan, Luke Hester, Prisci 1 la Smith
Flattery, Gwen Brown, Denise Owens, and Tanya
Meekens, External Affairs.
Sustained Superior Performance Awards to: Diane Jones.
Office of the Administrator . . Phyllis Anderson. Air and
Radiation . . Joeanne Osborne, Howard Toyer. and Laura
Cross, Pesticides and Toxic Substances . . . Cathy Parks.
Administration and Resources Management ~
Letters
. a moans for Agency employees to communicate to othei employees
whatever messages ol criticism, praise opinion, or explanation they so
desire Brevity and constructive suggestions are encouraged, obscenity
?nd rudonuss are disallowed Letters will he published a.)	alluus
nnd may be edited for clarity and conciseness No attempt is irnult; by the
editor to confirm any data presented by correspondents and the opinions
expressed should not be taken to represent Agency positions, unless
signed by the head of the appropriate oflice All letters must be signed
and accompanied by submitter's ollice location and telephone number
Dear Editor.
Recently, my son Kevin, a freshman at the University of
Georgia, was the recipient of S1,000 provided by the EPA
Scholarship Fund. My daughter Tina and son Joseph have
also received scholarships in the past.
I would like to thank the Board of Trustees for allowing
my children an opportunity to continue their education.
Being a single parent for 19 years, the scholarships were a
blessing.
I especially want to thank Charlotte Englert and the stall
in the Office of the Administrator for the courteous
manner in which they handled their jobs.
Betty ]o Gaston
Region 4
The El'A Times is published monthly to provide news and mini mil-
lion for and about l-ll'A employees Headers ,111: encouraged to submit
news of themselves and ol lellow employees, letlois ol opinion, ques-
tions, communis, and .suggestions to the Kdilor, Tin: i'.l'A Times, Oilici
of Public Affairs (A -107) Telephone	Inlonii.ilion selected
for publication will be edited as necessaiy in keeping with space
available	features Kdiloi Don llionkema
Departments llditor iVIanlyn Kogeis
Open Season for federal health benefits programs at
headquarters is November 10 through December 5, 1980. .
Health Fair is planned on November 20 outside the WIC
entrance. The Headquarters Personnel Office requests
employees who wish to make a change lo submit their
form (SF-2809) as early as possible. For further
information contact Juelee Street on 382-3276.
EPA's Public Information Center (PIC) is now located at
Waterside Mall, SE. Garage Level PIC is operated under
contract to the Information Services Branch ol the
Information Management and Service Division /OIRM. PIC
distributes publications in response to requests via
correspondence, telephone calls, and walk-in visitors. PIC
is open Irom 8:00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m , Monday through
Friday. For information requests PIC can be reached
locally at (202) 646-6410: FTS at 673-5926: toll free at
800-828-4445.
Asbestos removal contracts have been awarded for
Waterside Mall, Corvallis. Ada. Athens, and Edison. The
removal work will be scheduled soon and take place in
early FY-1987. Contracts tor asbestos removal at Grosse lie
and Narragansett will also be set in early FY-1987.
Morgan Kinghorn has been appointed Acting Deputy
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Administration
and Resources Management. He succeeds Seymour
Greenstone.
To avoid delays in receipt ol 1986 W-2 Forms, employees
should verify the address that appears on the bi-weekly
Payroll Statement of Earnings. If the address is incomplete
or incorrect, please submit a new W-4 Form lo the
Environmental Protection Agency. Headquarters
Accounting Operations Branch (PM-226), by December 1.
1986. Headquarters employees can get the W-4 Forms in
the Customer Assistance Office. Room 3407. Waterside
Mall. Field employees should contact their Servicing
Personnel Office, n
Leave Year Ends
Employees are reminded that the 1986 Leave Year
ends January 3, 1987 and that non-SES personnel are
permitted to carry over a maximum of 240 hours of
annual leave Irom the previous year. Any unused
annual leave in excess of this carry-over limit will be
forfeited. Agency supervisors should review their
employees' leave plans for the remainder of this year
to avoid annual leave forfeiture Federal regulations
allow restoration of forfeited annual leave only in
cases due to administrative error, illness, or
unforeseen public business. The regulations further
stipulate that restoration will only be considered if
the leave was formally scheduled and approved in
writing before the start of the third biweekly pay
period prior to the end of the leave year. The last
date for approval of potentially restorable leave for
this year would be Saturday, November 23, 1986. For
more detailed information about leave ask your
servicing Personnel Ollice.

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One of Us
Our thanks to Rowena Michaels of Region 7 for submitting the
material for this story.
Jirofile: T om Holloway—Region 7
He is a glass-blower, a pilot, a scuba diver, a church
deacon, and an expert on the Gas Chromatograph Matrix
Isolation Fourier Transformer Infrared Spectrometer. In
our book, such diversity of skills and interests earns Dr.
Thomas Holloway the title of "modern-day Renaissance
man."
A chemist and team leader in the Region 7 laboratory,
Tom Holloway's favorite topic of conversation these days
is the Chromatograph/Spectrometer "gadget," a beautiful
piece of high-tech hardware that identifies chemical
compounds. Holloway beams when he talks about the
gadget. "There are only ten of them in the world, and
we're the only regional laboratory in EPA that has one,"
he boasts.
"Each molecule has a certain number of atoms in a
particular arrangement, and the chromatograph allows the
chemist to locate specific atoms and isomers in the
sample," Holloway says. He and his team have been busy
fine-tuning the instrument so that readouts can be
interpreted quickly and accurately. They plan to tell the
world scientific community of their findings in two
upcoming conferences hosted by the American Chemical
Society.
Holloway oversees a staff of 10 scientists and engineers
who comprise the Water and Analytical Support Team in
the regional laboratory's Environmental Monitoring and
Compliance Branch. The team is responsible for
inspecting wastewater treatment plants, surveying
water quality through fish and sediment sampling,
evaluating historical water data collected by EPA and the
• es, identifying trends, locating potential hot-spots, and
liting state-run environmental programs.
A native of Texas. Holloway has been with EPA for six
years. Before that, he taught chemistry at William Jewell
College in Missouri. He delighted in the intimacy of a
small campus and provoking the curiosity of young
people, yet also got a lot of kicks from long and lonely
hours exploring solutions to complex questions of
molecular behavior. But Holloway is also the "hands-on"
type who revels in the real world. While at the college, he
became interested in the art and technique of glass
blowing and taught it as well. "I started the course so we
could make our own lab equipment, but found it fun and
continued it as a hobby." he said.
Holloway received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Chemistry and Physics and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rice
University in Houston. He won a research fellowship to
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he studied
theoretical chemistry with the aid of advanced computers.
He and his wife, Elaine, reside in Gladstone. Missouri.
He is an accomplished pilot, with eight years of flying
under his belt, and is working hard on his instrument
rating, breaking away from his laboratory bench whenever
possible for training and practice. He also enjoys scuba
diving and is a deacon in the First Calvary Baptist Church
in the Westport neighborhood of Kansas City, MO.
We can only hope Tom Holloway doesn't spread himself
too thin. On the other hand, a true Renaissance man
probably needs a lot of stimuli to maintain his
creativity. ~
V	4* Cfor.u/o 'b Cir:n:i:ati Lw*dl'is V	J "I*	'iSdutl: •£*
2	Hi
Notes from the Field J
By Priscilla Flattery	^
? Priscilla Smith Flattery is the Regional Coordinator in the
-i; Office of Public Affairs. All employees are encouraged to con-
's tribute to this column by submitting ideas, information, and	"5
comments to her. Telephone: 382-4387. Mail code: A-307. ^
^ Some people in Region 2 have been doing a lot of
1 running around recently- Jim Marshall, the Acting
'A Director of the Regional Superfund program, and
Alex Posner, a hydrogeologist in the Superfund
office, both completed the New York Marathon as
official participants. Dan Sullivan, the Deputy
Director of the Environmental Services Division,	,
| completed the race as an unofficial runner. Taylor
'i Adams of Headquarters' Public Affairs also finished
... the race . . . Three Las Vegas laboratory employees
have been included in the 1986-87 edition of the
¦? Latin Chamber of Commerce Who's Who of Hispanics ^
in the State of Nevada. Among those listed are Nelda
Kaufman, EEO Specialist, Office of Civic Rights;
Arthur Sandoval, Director, Office of Personnel: and
X Tani Trujillo, Secretary, Environmental Monitoring
: and Support Laboratory . . . Congratulations to Dr.
. Rao Y. Surampalli of Region 7's Water Management
' Division, awarded the Philip F. Morgan Award of
Merit by the Water Pollution Control Federation	-r
during its annual conference held October 8 in Los
... Angeles. The award is presented annually to the	i
j individual who displays meritorious service, effort,
1 and industry in the sewage treatment field ...	;
Long-time Region 2 employee Richard Caspe has
•i* been named Director of the Water Management	~
^ Division.	J
-i- - fU.'luJL- -I- . ItMtUw: . linyeK# '!* - Vtif/Knt - Vsn-Umv, -J-

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PianS (Conlmued from fronl.)
mail services. Parts of Jus-
tice, Internal Revenue, De-
fense, and the Commerce
Department's National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration are candi-
dates for consolidation this
year.
A second goal is to move
from costly leased space
into government-owned
property where equity
accrues and savings result
because investor profits and
real-estate taxes are elimi-
nated. For every square foot
of owned space the savings
will approximate one dol-
lar. Since 1964 the ratio
nationwide of government-
leased space has more than
doubled. Today, 49 per cent
of the total federal popula-
tion is housed in leased
quarters.
A third objective is to use
modular or systems furni-
ture to get better service
from less space, while pro-
viding the worker with far
better visual and acoustical
privacy and cutting fatigue.
Systems furniture can save
40 square feet per person
on average, and pays for it-
self in three and one-half
years. Systematic use of
such scientifically designed
furniture in only 10 percent
of GSA's real estate in-
ventory would cut
5,500,000 square feet and
save $200,000,000 over the
next five years.
And how will all this
space-waste be cut? By bet-
ter space utilization in new-
ly leased or acquired build-
ings and modernization of
existing space, reductions
in conventional space for
each employee, de-
commissioning warehouse
space, and selling off prop-
erty no longer needed by
the government.
Golden said "We expect
to average one employee
per 135 square feet of space
in older buildings and
much better than that in
new ones." That 135 in-
cludes common space
around work stations and
some conference rooms and
corridors, but excludes au-
ditoria, labs, restrooms,
reception areas, lobbies,
and electromechanical sup-
port space.
The efficiency potential
of the scientific space-
management approach is
staggering when one con-
siders that GSA provides
office space for 890,000
federal employees in more
than 2.200 government-
owned and 4,600 leased
buildings. (This includes
the Pentagon but excludes
all other military.) The
agency's annual ex-
penditures for real estate
management activities such
as acquisition of sites and
buildings, construction,
leasing, repairs, alterations,
maintenance, and protec-
tion run to about $2.5 bil-
lion.
For additional benefits to
the taxpayer, GSA is de-
legating buildings-
management authority to
agencies who are sole occu-
pants in government-owned
or leased buildings nation-
wide. The goal is to let
agencies set their own
priorities. With some ex-
ceptions, GSA will phase
out its operational functions
and focus on policy
matters. ~
Products & Events
Training
The Headquarters Education Center and the EPA Institute
will be sponsoring several training programs in the coming
months on a variety of topics. Although specific
announcements have or will be issued, call the Institute
(475-8047) or the headquarters Employee Development
and Training Office (382-2997) if you have any additional
questions. Specific opportunities scheduled so far include:
Introduction to Expert Systems (Employee Development
and Training Office)—This program will cover the
principles and applications of expert computer programs
that can serve as a substitute for a human expert. The
program will begin on January 28 and conclude in
mid-March. The cost is $495 per person, including the
cost of the software package.
Project Officer Training for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements (EPA Institute)—A 14-hour program designed
by the Grants Administration Division to provide a better
understanding of the grant assistance process. Scheduled
for November 4-5 in the North Conference Center near the
WIC.
Contract Administration Training for Supervisors and
Managers (EPA Institute)—A one-day course on the
contract administration process and the critical roles of
EPA project officers. Several programs are scheduled.
Contract Administration Training for Project Officers
(EPA Institute)—A three-day program providing EPA
project officers, work assignment managers, and delivery
order officers with a better understanding of the contract
administration process. Several programs are scheduled ~
EPA's Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory in
Research Triangle Park, and the Electric Power Research
Institute are cosponsoring the 1987 Joint Symposium on
Stationary Combustion NOx Control. The Symposium will
be held in New Orleans on March 23-26, 1987. For more
information, contact Jack Greene, MD-49, EPA, AEERL,
Research Triangle Park. NC 27711. Telephone: (FTS)
629-2903.
The Agency has recently produced the following
publications which are available from the Public
information Center (800) 828-4445.
® Hazardous Waste Ground Water Task Force, leaflet.
(OPA-86-006).
® Ozone, Smog, and You, leaflet for general public
(OPA-86-007). ~
Hotlines, Anyone?
The Office of Public Affairs is compiling a list of
hotlines operated by or for the Agency. The
completed list will be printed in an upcoming issue o
The EPA Journal. If you operate an EPA hotline,
please call or write the editor of the Journal. John
Heritage. Telephone (FTS) 382-4393. Mail code
(A-107). Thank you.

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