Times
NEWS FOR ANID ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
•SCAC
•CRTs
VOLUME 4	NUMBER 10	OCTOBER 1987
CFC Redux
The Administrator has agreed to serve
as Chairman of the 1987-1988
Combined Federal Campaign for EPA
and has designated C. Morgan
Kinghorn, Acting Assistant
Administrator for Administration and
Resources Management, as his Vice
Chairman. Their plans for this fall's
campaign will include special efforts
to encourage the support of all EPA
employees such as:
•	Organizing key workers and training
them effectively.
•	Conducting a high visibility
promotion of the new campaign
theme, "Remember, Someone Out
There Needs Someone Like You".
•	Ensuring that every employee is
given the opportunity to view the
campaign film and contribute.
•	Encouraging generous contributions
through payroll deduction.
Thomas said he accepts this
assignment with alacrity and hopes
this year's campaign sets a high
example of stewardship for the
multitudes in need.
Security
Lee Thomas recently responded to a
Congressional interrogatory on GAO's
Employee Security Report, observing
that the safety of EPA
employees has always been a
paramount concern, especially since
the demise of colleague Linda Billings
in late 1985. The Agency has worked
closely with GSA to upgrade the
security of Headquarters facilities.
Since the issuance of GAO's final
report, EPA has enhanced security by
publishing five security awareness
bulletins, implementing more
responsive security operating
procedures, posting additional guards
inside our three Headquarters
buildings and tightening peripheral
security at Waterside Mall.
Further, EPA has supported
Congressional efforts to have GSA
establish minimum security standards
for government-occupied buildings
and believes that these standards will
allow agencies to do a much better job
of protecting employees. They, in
turn, must help themselves by taking
common-sense precautions and
reading their security awareness
bulletins.
Cardio-Exercise:
The Smoking Gun
Federal officials now say that the link
between heart disease and physical
inactivity may be as strong as the
links to smoking, obesity, high blood
pressure, heredity and high serum
LDLs. Researchers at the Centers for
Disease Control undertook a two-year
analysis of all studies in English, and
after eliminating the unreliable ones,
found that the least active people
were almost twice as likely to have
heart disease as those who were most
active.
Nearly 60% of Americans get no
regular exercise and 80 to 90% fail to
pursue adequate aerobic exercise, the
best way to keep that old ticker
healthy. In contrast, 18% smoke a
pack of cigarettes a day, 10% exhibit
systolic blood pressures above 150,
10% have combined blood cholesterol
levels over 268, and 30% are
overweight for their height and
somatype.
You've Got
The Right Idea!
The EPA Clerical Suggestion Program,
sponsored by the Support Careers
Advisory Committee (SCAC) and
financed by the Productivity
Improvement Investment Fund,
invites all clerks and secretaries to
submit suggestions to cut costs and
improve services. This approach has
proven highly successful in the
private sector.
"Our clerical employees can help us
cut costs and increase the
productivity of all EPA employees,"
noted Jim Barnes, Deputy
Administrator. "They have hands-on
knowledge of agency systems in
supply management, telephones, mail
handling, office automation and
administrative procedures, and their
suggestions can result in significant
cost reductions and higher
productivity."
The top 10 implemented
suggestions will bring cash awards of
$1,000 each. The winners will be
appointed to the "Ten Club" and
serve as panel reviewers for future
programs. Get an application form and
send your ideas to Personnel
Management Division (PM-212),
EPA/HQ, Washington, D.C. 20460 not
later than February 1, 1988.
EPA Smokers
Take Notice
Those who are still covertly smoking
despite the new rules may be
interested to know that according to a
federal study published in the CDC
September 11 weekly report, their
habit is increasingly unpopular
in the United States and
coming under broad censure. The
study found that as of late last year
only 26.5 percent of American adults
were cigarette smokers—down from
30.4 percent in 1985, and the lowest
recorded in this country since the
days of the spittoon. EPA's
non-smokers fervently hope to see the
percentages approach zero over the
next decade, for the benefit of all of
us.

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Eyeballing CRTs
Video terminal operators may think
they are going blind when actually
they just need to blink more often,
says an ophthalmologist writing in the
Journal of the American Medical
Association. Dr. Frank Weinstock
claims that VDT users "have a
tendency to stare. They cut their
blinking rates to avoid missing
anything on the screen." This, and not
the screen itself, is what causes eye
fatigue. So, he advises, "just keep on
blinkin' to lubricate the eyes and
you'll be much less tired at the end of
the day."
Many VDT operators report that
glare filters diminish eyestrain by
eliminating reflections from white
shirts or blouses. Such filters are
especially advised for the ocular stress
caused by numbers and spreadsheets.
Another tip is to obey the 20-20-20
rule. Keep your eyes about 20 inches
from the screen and take a break of 20
seconds every 20 minutes. Focus on a
distant, immobile object—like your
boss—to maximize the relief.
Then there's the Karl Marx effect,
produced by long hours of staring at
green letters on a dark background—a
common setting for many
monochrome monitors. When the
operator turns to glance at white
letters on a dark field, such as glyphs
on a typewriter keyboard, the white
letters appear pink. This phenomenon
is quite innocuous and should not
persist for more than a few moments
or hours at the most.
SCAC's New Chair
In a ceremony on September 16, 1987,
Bill Henderson, Director of EPA's
Office of Human Resources
Management, appointed Ann Johnson
as the new Chairperson for the
Support Careers Advisory Committee
(SCAC). Jim Barnes presented
certificates of appreciation to
members for their contributions over
the past two years and Mary
McCaffery, outgoing chairperson, was
presented with a plaque in
recognition of her dynamic
leadership.
Johnson is well known to many at
EPA and brings to the Committee a
wealth of knowledge and experience
in development and training of
secretarial and clerical employees.
She headed up the SCAC Awards and
Incentives Subcommittee and served
as Special Assistant to Mary
McCaffery. To promote growth on the
job, Johnson urges all to adopt the
motto "Excellence is not just a goal,
it's a lifestyle."
SCAC was established in May 1985
by Administrator Lee Thomas to find
ways to utilize the full range of
clerical and secretarial talents, and
has done a superb job in advising
management on how to recruit, train
and motivate first-rate support staff.
Computer Breaks
Sound Barrier
by Andrew H. Lowe
Note: The writer is a hearing-impaired
computer programmer for the Office of
Air and Radiation at EPA headquarters
Many deaf people are under-employed
or fail to find any job at all because it
is difficult for them to communicate
with their peers. Management cannot
be expected to hire a sign-interpreter.
That's either too expensive or
time-consuming, but there is more
than one way to skin a cat.
Here in the Office of Mobile
Sources people find many ways to
communicate with me, the only
hearing-impaired employee in the
whole division. When working alone,
for example, I can be reached through
my IBM PC. When people upstairs
need to talk to me, they use their PC
or terminal and communications
software to dial my phone number.
My modem will answer automatically
and capture the call. A phone ring
flasher, a little over $10 at Radio
Shack, informs me of the call.
I answer the phone by typing on the
keyboard: "Hello, Andy here—GA (go
ahead)." The conversation then
continues smoothly on the PC
monitor. The caller leaves a messa^H
on my screen if I don't respond. A
software open log file can record
messages of virtually unlimited
length.
The MicroVAX II computer I work
with every day also has a phone
capability. When it is invoked, the
video terminal's screen splits into two
windows, each of which can
accommodate two people
simultaneously.
If the deaf employee has a PC at
home, as many like me now do, the
EPA-DialCom-Email should work fine.
Management only needs to establish
an address for the employee, so he/she
can call in or receive messages.
I also intend to start wearing a radio
pager similar to a beeper, but which
vibrates instead when activated. No
matter where I am at work, I can be
targeted by phone. When the pager
vibrates, a quick glance at the code
appearing on its liquid crystal display
(LCD) will tell me what to do.
Planned uses include urgent
conferences and building evacuatioj
due to fire or terrorist attack.
Intensive research and development
is underway on synthetic voice and
voice recognition. A DEC Rainbow PC
now can read documents from its
word processor, according to my
hearing companions. IBM also has a
Voice Augmented Card for the PCs
that can translate the human voice
from an analog microphone into text
on a monitor screen and input to a
word processor. When these two
functions become commonplace,
hearing impairment will be a much
smaller obstacle in the world of work.
A deaf employee will then be able to
speak through the computer keyboard,
while his co-worker will use standard
speech and let the computer
"lip-read" his voice and transform it
into characters on the monitor screen.
Costs are still high, of course, and a
few technical bugs must be worked
out, but I see a new day ahead for the
hearing-impaired.
Addendum: In our August issue, for
reasons of space, we had to omit credili™
R-5's David Segal as the source of the
first-rate text on the cost of office
automation. Our apologiesfed.)

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Crisis in the Ranks
¦rig a "quiet crisis" in the quality, efficiency and
ership of the civil service, erstwhile Federal Reserve
rd chairman Paul A. Volcker has launched a National
Commission on the Public Service to build respect for
careers in government. The group will seek the ear of
presidential candidates and try to get its objectives
included in the platforms of both major political parties.
"Our effort is entirely independent of the question of the
size of government," Volcker declared. "It is still spending
23 percent of GNP, so it must be run efficiently. There
should be no controversy about whether federal inspection
of planes is done properly, whether those who oversee
atomic energy are competent to prevent meltdowns, or
whether those who predict hurricanes know their
meteorology" he said.
Contributing to the crisis, Volcker claimed, are:
•	Unprecedented and counter-productive "government
bashing".
® Temporary political appointments much deeper into the
bureaucracy.
•	Deliberate exclusion of career personnel from policy
discussions.
•	Inadequate executive training and sabbaticals.
•	A growing disparity between federal compensation,
especially in the senior ranks, and pay in the private
^¦^or.
^^Be low priority given by young people to, and their
^OTtempt for, government service.
Volcker declined to speculate on what pay levels the
commission will recommend, but he believes that to
attract and retain the best people, government salaries
must become comparable with industry's. The
Commission is one of a growing number of organizations
worried about civil service management, morale and
remuneration. Public service has declined markedly as a
career vis-a-vis global competitors like Japan, which
emphasizes a healthy partnership of public and private
initiatives. Volcker said he wants to work with other
groups to turn things around and restore the prestige of
the civil service as an honorable pursuit.
Advances in Performance Management
Lee Thomas has told managers and supervisors that they
can take pride in their accomplishments regarding the
performance appraisal and standards-setting process over
this past year. Hindsight, he said, can also help identify
areas where EPA could have accomplished even more
with a different approach. Extraordinary efforts come from
motivated people, and motivation depends on how people
feel about themselves and what they do.
Thomas urged managers to use the appraisal process to
show people who have worked hard how much they
• eciate their efforts, and to recognize the special
|mplishments of those whose labors have resulted in
ificant leaps forward. The entire process can be used
to help employees focus their energies and set high
performance goals.
This year Thomas is placing special emphasis on
standards because many Performance Standards Review
Boards report that performance goals and measures are
vague and undemanding. He admitted that "it is
sometimes awkward to tell people who are driving hard
that they need to do more or do it better. But that is the
challenge we all accepted when we came to work for an
Agency charged with the vital task of protecting the
country's environment. And we are making a difference,"
Thomas claimed. One essential tool in maintaining recent
progress is to continue to upgrade performance
management, and it's up to managers to make that happen.
Thomas Lauds SAB
Thomas has thanked the Science Advisory Board (SAB)
Integrated Environmental Management Subcommittee for
its thorough review of the Integrated Environmental
Management Program (IEMP) and its constructive
recommendations for program improvements. The IEMP is
an important element in the Agency's continuing efforts to
improve its ability to assess environmental risks and find
effective strategies for controlling them. SAB guidance in
this review offers both encouragement for continued
application of IEMP concepts and methods in local
settings, and thoughtful suggestions for technical and
procedural changes.
The review of the IEMP has been a year-long process of
exchanging information and views between the
Subcommittee and Agency staff. Over that period, EPA
staff in touch with the program have enjoyed valuable
opportunities to observe the science review process and to
hear the concerns of the science community. In turn, staff
provided information on program goals, constraints and
needs to the scientific community. Indeed, EPA staff have
been able to anticipate many of the recommendations in
the review and have begun to act on them within the
practical limits of both new and ongoing IEMP projects.
The Subcommittee's recommendations and staff actions
taken to date:
©The IEMP needs to adopt clearly articulated, measurable
objectives. Staff working on the recently-initiated Denver
IEMP project have aggressively sought out members of the
scientific community (including a member of the
Subcommittee) to assist in the development of measurable
objectives for the project.
• The program should more clearly document the
scientific assumptions it uses and communicate the limits
and uncertainties of its various studies. Staff working on
the Baltimore IEMP project, scheduled for completion this
fall, have sought out experts from Johns Hopkins
University to assist in documenting and communicating
the scientific assumptions, limits and uncertainties
associated with the project's air-toxics monitoring study.
® The IEMP should identify the range of scientific
disciplines needed to maintain competence for the variety
of scientific issues addressed in the program. The Denver
staff have established a Science Review Panel, comprised
of specialists in the field of environmental science, for the
Continued to next page

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SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION
AND LICENSING SURVEY
Location:	
Organization:	
Mail Code:	
Phone Number:	
Are you currently certified or do you have a current license from a scientific or technical society,
association, institute or board?
YES ~
NO ~
If yes, list group(s).	
Are you interested in becoming certified or licensed?
YES ~
NO ~
If so, by whom?	;	
Would you be willing to advise others attempting to become certified or licensed?
YES ~
NO ~
Please list any materials (study guides, work books, biblographies, etc J you believe would be useful in
obtaining certification or a scientific or technical license
PLEASE RETURN QUESTIONNAIRE TO TONY TESORIERO, EPA HEADQUARTERS, MAIL CODE EN-340f,
WITHIN 15 DAYS OR AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE, OR CALL HIM ON 8-382-2490 FOR
INFORMATION.

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CERTIFICATION AND LICENSING
The Scientific and Technical Careers Advisory Committee
(S/TCAC), in conjunction with the Office of Human
Resources Management, has recommended to the
Administrator that the Agency develop a program to
promote the certification and licensing of the Agency's
scientists and engineers within their disciplines. Not only
will the Agency benefit, but professionals will enjoy a
higher level of credibility among their academic and
industrial colleagues.
You are invited to fill out the questionnaire on the
reverse. If sufficient interest is demonstrated the
committee will try to develop refresher courses in specific
disciplines, organized at convenient times and locations,
to assist applicants in preparing for examinations.
Speakers from professional organizations will be invited to
explain the requirements and benefits of certification and
licensing. Workbooks and study guides will be available in
EPA libraries for those preparing for examinations. A
roster of EPA staff members who have become certified or
licensed will be established to advise future applicants,
and a display board will be established listing the names
of certified and licensed employees.
The S/TCAC is an EPA committee comprised of
representatives of the technical disciplines determined to
improve the work environment of the scientific and
technical community, and to advance the high level of
expertise essential to the fulfillment of the Agency's
mission.

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purpose of identifying the expertise needed to ensure
high-quality development and review of study methods
and findings.
• The IEMP should more aggressively seek technical input
from experts in the environmental and scientific
community. Staff working on the Baltimore and Denver
IEMP projects have established partnerships with experts
from the Office of Research and Development to enhance
the air-toxics monitoring studies underway there. The
IEMP staff have continued to pursue and perfect their
method of assessing health effects from non-oncogenic
agents and believe the time has come to consider it with
other approaches in an Agencywide forum. They have
sponsored an Agency work group with the mission of
reviewing current approaches and developing better ones
for non-cancer risk assessment. The work group will
submit its work for formal science review.
The IEMP will continue to look for opportunities to
implement the Subcommittee's recommendations and to
seek the advice of the science community in the conduct
of IEMP projects. The Subcommittee's review will be a
benison for the IEMP and has already provided the
scientific community insight into the practical problems
attending IEMP projects. The support and assistance of the
science community will make this program a practical
success.
New Thrust in Community Relations
On August 11, the Administrator approved a "Plan for
Agencywide Community Relations" to promote more
public involvement in program office decision-making. It
outlines a procedure for the early identification of major
issues with community-relations implications, and stresses
the need to give both regional and headquarters program
managers time to plan and carry out effective
community-relations activities.
The plan was developed by the Office of Community
and Inter-governmental Relations in the Office of External
Affairs. It builds on the Consultation/
Negotiation/Consensus-building protocol
developed at the Baltimore EPA Senior Managers' Forum
and the upgraded communications strategy-development
process, issued as an EPA Order last July. It recognizes
that the activities and policies of EPA have significant
impacts on communities and, therefore, the Agency has a
responsibility to make greater efforts to educate citizens
and solicit their participation where possible.
In announcing the program to Assistant and Regional
Administrators, Lee Thomas emphasized that "the success
of certain environmental protection programs will be
measured by how well they are accepted and carried out
in communities across the country. For this reason, it is
crucial that we make all reasonable efforts to inform
citizens about environmental issues uniquely facing their
communities and to involve them in our decision-making
chain".
Each Assistant and Regional Administrator has
designated a Community Relations Coordinator to be
responsible for reviewing program activities to dotormino
where an intensified community relations thrust is
needed. In addition, the Assistant Administrators for Air
and Radiation, Pesticides and Toxics, Water, and Solid
Waste and Emergency Response each have been asked to
identify and undertake community relations "pilot
projects" in cooperation with a regional office to
demonstrate the benefits and requirements of
community-relations planning.
To institutionalize community relations in the Agency's
planning and operating functions, program managers are to
incorporate community relations into annual operating
guidance, budget planning, awards programs, workload
modeling for management systems reviews and
performance standards. The Office of External Affairs has
briefed all Assistant and Regional Administrators and their
senior staffs on the plan and efforts are underway to
proceed with the pilot projects.
A roster of community relations coordinators will be
published in the November Management Notes.
Ventilation Update
At the August meeting of the Facilities Management and
Services Division, Mark Antell of the Ventilation
Committee noted four problems: the damper for the
second floor of the SW Mall is sometimes closed, concerns
about short-circuited air flow in the second floor SW Mall
have not been addressed since first reported in May, the
damper for the second floor of the SE Mall is not always
open far enough and one of the West Tower dampers was
partially closed. Facilities promised to address these
problems and do a follow-up inspection.
The Occupational Health and Safety Staff (OHSS)
monitored carbon dioxide (C02) during August using a™
new test protocol and found that levels were generally 25
percent lower. Levels in the Mall were 400-800 ppm (over
600 ppm indicates a potential indoor-air-quality problem).
In the Crystal City building, C02 was higher than 1000
ppm, exceeding the proposed limit. Facilities has been
negotiating with GSA and the building manager and now
plans to modify ductwork to improve air distribution.
OHSS sent a letter on September 29 to the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, asking it to
conduct a health survey at Waterside Mall and Crystal
City.
The ventilation system repair/balancing project
continues. The East Tower has been repaired and is now
being balanced; facilities is making repairs in the West
Tower; the Mall area is essentially finished. Facilities has
announced it will spend $1,000 to improve air flow in
smoky restrooms. It is also putting in two more air
conditioning units on the third floor of the Mall. Town
Center Management will install a dehumidifier in the NE
basement, and Facilities will continue to work on the
temperature problem in the NE Mall, checking to see if
there is a problem in locating the air intake for the NE
Mall adjacent to an emergency generator and a trash
dumpster. The origin of diesel-fuel odors reported in
peripheral offices in the East Tower is being checked out.
Facilities is trying to get integrated pest management^
programs started in the Crystal City and Fairchild
buildings; eliminating toxic sprays is an essential aspeiJi
an indoor-air-quality program.

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