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ISJEWS FOH s\I\m ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
Inside:
•	SCAC Pushes Productivity
•	Civil Service in Free Fall?
VOLUME 5	NUMBER 4	APRIL 1988
The Origins and Meaning of SAC
National
Secretaries
Week: A
Well-Deserved
Tribute
Yes—it's time once again to celebrate
National Secretaries Week. This issue
of the Times is dedicated largely to
the work of secretaries in all their
protean roles—fielding those tough
calls, expediting paperwork,
organizing the office, reminding the
boss of appointments and deadlines
and much more. The agency might be
able to survive without some of its
functionaries, but lose one secretary
and we all know the office quickly
collapses. That's an ancient
observation but truer than ever. So
let's hear it for our superb
secretaries—now and throughout the
year! Read on... ~
A Call for Candor
and Consistency
The headquarters Secretarial Advisory
Committee (SAC) held its first 1988
membership recruitment campaign in
the EPA auditorium on January 28; a
reception followed. Susan Wayland.
Deputy Director, Office of Pesticides
Programs, spoke on the five key
ingredients in a successful partnership
between secretaries and managers,
namely, candid communication and
feedback on a daily basis,
dependability in terms of presence
and performance, respect for the
integrity and motivation of both
parties, consistency of attitudes and
expectations, and mutual sensitivity
to the needs and flashpoints of each
person in the relationship. Attention
to these fundaments, said Wayland,
makes for effective operations even in
trying circumstances. She lauded SAC
for its efforts on behalf of the
Agency, n
The Secretarial Advisory Committee
(SAC) was formed in 1980 by the EPA
Federal Women's Program (FWP)
under the aegis of the Office of Civil
Rights to help solve the problem of
low morale and high turnover among
secretarial and clerical employees. As
a subcommittee of the Agencywide
FWP Council, it comprises
representatives of local SAC groups
developed within the FWP at every
EPA facility. It serves as a broad-based
information exchange that identifies
and addresses secretarial/clerical
issues Agency-wide and advises
management on how to approach
them.
SAC strives to promote recognition
of the secretarial profession,
illuminate common concerns
regarding employment and career
development, upgrade awareness and
skills among its constituency, and act
as a forum through which people can
share their experiences, insights and
hopes for the future. SAC works with
management and other employee
groups to achieve these goals,
including the Support Careers
Advisory Committee (SCAC) under
the Office of Human Resources
Management. ~
Luncheon with
Carol Randolph
On April 29 the Headquarters
Secretarial Advisory Committee
(SAC), in conjunction with the Office
of Civil Rights Federal Women's
Program, will sponsor the Third
Annual Secretaries Luncheon to honor
secretarial and clerical-support staff at
11:30 AM in the Holiday Inn, 500-C
Street, SW. Carol Randolph, noted
journalist and TV personality, will be
the featured speaker. Lee Thomas
invites all staffers to join him in
attending. Tickets can be obtained
through any SAC member or the
Office of Civil Rights (Evelyn Wray,
382-2600; Shirley Waugh,
557-7092). ~
What's in it for the average
secretary or clerical support
employee? SAC's purpose is not to
make sure everybody gets a promotion
or a big bonus at year's end. SAC
focuses the influence of its members
when it counts: when decisions
affecting them are being made by
supervisors and managers. SAC helps
supervisors develop more professional
relationships with their support staff.
SAC pushes career development
classes for those who need to sharpen
oral and written communications and
upgrade skills affecting their growth.
Secretaries can impact management
decisions reshaping their positions in
a time of automation. They can
influence these matters even at the
AA and office levels if they are
effectively organized to present their
assessments of computers, printers,
software, ergometric furniture, air
quality, etc. So the secretarial and
support staff realm is rich with
potential. Opportunities ancillary to
and outside of the field exist for those
willing to pursue them. But SAC can
be no more than the sum of its parts;
you are invited to partake of the
excitement and contribute your own
unique talents. ~
Awards for Excellence
Ten secretaries were among those
presented annual Administrator's
Awards for Excellence in December,
1987: Sheila Allen, Office of Air and
Radiation; R. Diane Brewer, Region 7;
Juanita S. Cherry, Office of the
Inspector General; Delores S.
Henderson, Office of Pesticides and
Toxic Substances; Joan M. Henry,
Office of the Inspector General; Sheri
Johnson, Office of Policy, Planning
and Evaluation; Marcia A. McCarthy,
Region 1; Peggy J. Moran, Office of
water; Helen Thompson, Region 6 and
Louise M. Haverman, Clerk, National
Enforcement Investigations Center,
Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Monitoring, Denver, CO. ~

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SCAC Pushes Productivity
On behalf of the clerical population,
the Support Careers Advisory
Committee (SCAC) submitted a
proposal to EPA's Productivity
Improvement Investment Fund in
1987 to establish a Clerical Suggestion
Program. Clericals have "hands-on"
knowledge of Agency administrative
systems. Their logistical expertise in
supply, telephones, mail, office
automation and administrative
procedures can cut costs and boost
productivity, so the proposal was
accepted for funding in the amount of
$10,000.
A special panel made up of three
secretaries and three managers has
reviewed all suggestions on better
ways to accomplish work or save
money in the applicant's own or
another organization. Because this is a
specially funded program, only the
top 10 suggestions will be given cash
awards, and the originators will
become members of the "Ten Club".
All other ideas will be forwarded to
EPA's Employee Suggestion Program
for additional review. The awards will
be presented to the ten finalists by
Lee Thomas at the third annual
headquarters secretarial luncheon,
April 29, 1988. ~
Denise Link
Denise Link, a member of the Region
8 Federal Women's Program
Committee, recently received the
prestigious FWP Achievement Award
of the Denver Federal Executives
Board for superior performance and
furthering the goals of the FWP. Link,
an environmental scientist, was
instrumental in the development of a
Women in Science and Engineering
Committee (WISE) seminar series and
information exchange network. The
seminars have brought the talents of
many women "out of the closet" and
have advanced recognition of the
skills and achievements of women
scientists and engineers in the Region.
Pam Herman, Region 8 FWP manager
who nominated her, says Link
recognized the need to develop an
organization to support women
scientists and engineers and
established WISE as a volunteer on
her own initiative. ~
Civil Service in Free Fall?
Paul Volcker, erstwhile head of the
Federal Reserve Board and now
chairman of the National Commission
on the Civil Service, and Ray Kline,
former top official of the CIA and
currently president of the National
Academy of Public Administration,
testified on March 24 before the
House Post Office and Civil Service
Committee, saying the federal service
is in such a state of decay that it
threatens the government's ability to
do the jobs Congress has assigned it.
Volcker told the Committee that the
best students graduating today
generally turn their noses up at a
career in government, so low is its
prestige after almost 20 years of
fed-bashing, and that the top people
are fleeing the ship in great numbers.
Moreover, A.M. Zuck, executive
director of the National Association of
Schools of Public Affairs and
Administration, testified that the
number of graduates of such schools
joining government has dropped 25
per cent over the past eight years.
More than half of the original SES
people have quit as well, and 53 per
cent of members of the Federal
Executive Alumni Association would
not dream of recommending a federal
career to their children or
grandchildren.
Dr. Patricia Ingraham, who teaches
at the Maxwell School, reported that
the test scores of those entering
government today are markedly lower
than they were a decade ago. Very few
college grads with CPAs of 3.5 or
better choose the public service. And
an IRS official declared that his
incoming accountants now average in
the 54th percentile of qualifying
exams, whereas those joining the Big
Eight firms in the private sector boast
standing in the 86th percentile.
Kline, however, insisted that the
federal establishment is not a
monolith and that some agencies are
holding their own, depending on the
quality of their leadership and other
factors. Mark Abramson, executive
director of the Center for Excellence
in Government, reported that CIA and
the Foreign Service, perhaps because
of glamour and high
name-recognition, continue to attract
adventurous young candidates of a
substantially higher caliber. Finally,
Kline observed that the present
personnel system is suffocating anj
does not seem to work well for
anybody at any level vis-a-vis
remuneration, promotion, training,
evaluation, assignments and other
matters. Salary and benefits have
fallen far behind the private sector,
with the exception of the new FERS
pension system. ~
Towns Tops in Quality
To honor and promote excellence the
Office of Research and Development
has initiated a new Quality Assurance
Manager of the Year Award. Barry
Towns of Region 10 has been selected
as the first recipient of this signal
honor and a $2,000 check. The
high-level selection panel was struck
by the impressive number and quality
of nominations, but unanimously
chose Towns despite the competition.
His accomplishments will help ensure
that the Agency's decision-making is
consistently supported by sound,
relevant and defensible environmental
data. ~
Salvatore Badcilamenti (r.) formerly
Chief of the Southern New Jersey
Remedial Action Section, Emergency
and Remedial Response Division,
Region 2, has received the "RA Award
for Excellence", presented here by RA
Christopher J. Daggett. The award
honors the employee who best
represents the region's goal of
integrity in public service.
Nominations and evaluations for the
$1,000 award are made by regional
employees. ~

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Mew RAs
Eee Thomas has appointed Greer C. Tidwell as
Administrator for Region 4 and Daniel W. McGovern to
the same position in Region 9. Tidwell succeeds Jack
Ravan, who resigned last August, and McGovern replaces
Judith Ayres, who left in December.
Greer comes to the Agency with more than 25 years'
experience in environmental planning and engineering. He
was president of his own company for 14 years in
Nashville and has served as chairman of the Tennessee
Solid Waste Disposal Control Board, helping to develop
new wastewater treatment technology for municipalities
and industry. He held a series of responsible positions
with TVA. He has a master's degree from Vanderbilt,
studied at the Harvard graduate school for a year and is a
fellow of the National Institutes of Public Affairs.
McGovern served from 1986 as General Counsel of
NOAA in the Commerce Dept. During 1981-85 he was
Deputy and Principal Deputy Legal Advisor and Acting
Legal Advisor to the State Dept. He served from 1973-81 as
a senior research attorney for the California Supreme Court
and from 1971-73 as California Deputy Attorney General.
He is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. ~
New Chair, HRC
Alexandra B. Smith, Deputy Administrator for Region 8,
fcas been named the new chairperson of the EPA Human
"esources Council. The Council advises on the role of
human resource activities in support of the Agency
mission, provides a soundingboard for reviewing resource
innovations and serves as a catalyst working with
managers, mini-councils, employee groups and others to
upgrade utilization of our human potential. Lee Thomas
expressed his gratitude to Paul Keogh, first chair, for his
signal contributions to the Council during its formative
peiiud. o
Quality Workplace
CSA is continuing to help agencies boost employee
productivity with rationalized workstations, including
vertical storage, pulaiized lighting, propei ventilation,
ergometric seating and writing surfaces and modern
computers and communications, among other factors.
Such an integrated systems approach boosted productivity
in one agency by 46%. Staff felt less stress, were more
courteous and even dressed better in a simulacrum of
professional environs. It's not surprising that people stuck
in crowded, noisy, polluted quarters will not always be at
their best. GSA believes senior management should inform
itself about the potential cost savings of rational environs
as well. The kinds of productivity gains reported above are
often accompanied by substantial cuts in square footage
per person—a nice thing to know at a time of planning for
jhe new building. The current GSA goal is to drop to a
¦edian of 135 sq. ft. for each employee, a
Productivity Investments
The Office of the Comptroller, in coordination with the
Agency's Productivity Review Board, will soon be
considering a third round of projects to be funded from
the Agency's Productivity Improvement Investment (PIF)
Fund.
The PIF provides incentives for EPA employees
throughout the Agency to participate in the program. "We
want to create an atmosphere that is supportive of
innovation," said Charles L. Grizzle, Assistant
Administrator for OARM. "The Productivity Investment
Fund is one way to achieve that goal."
Any employee can apply for funding on a one-page
form. The Board looks for those projects that can serve as
"models for change" within the Agency. Four types of
projects have received funding to date: work process
studies, automated data processing (hardware and
software), human resource development and labor-saving
laboratory equipment.
One example of a successful project is the Automated
Robotic Arm. The arm simplifies the task of preparing and
testing laboratory samples for toxicity, cuts the risk to
employees, improves accuracy, boosts the number of
samples prepared, lowers costs and elevates the morale of
lab scientists by freeing them up for more creative
problem-solving.
The success of the first call for projects was
encouraging; 22 out of 40 projects were funded at a cost of
$800,000. The Fund is at S210.000 now and more may be
available later. The deadline for submitting proposals is
May 13, 1988. "We expect this call for projects to be as
successful as last year's," Grizzle predicted. ~
National Estuary Candidates
EPA has appruved a California stale request that San
Francisco Bay-Delta be added to the National Estuary
Program. Section 320 of the Water Quality Act of 1987
identifies certain estuaries that are to leceive priuiily
consideration for inclusion in the National Estuary
Program. The Agency is impressed with the progress that
has been made through the San Francisco Estuary Project,
especially the strong working relationship between the
California State Water Resources Board and EPA Region 9.
EPA and the California State Water Resources Control
Board had already drafted a state/EPA agreement for the
San Francisco Bay Estuary Project. This agreement
specified commitments and a schedule to meet new
requirements of the act, the need for a management
conference, the likelihood of success, and the necessity for
supplementing existing pollution controls to ensure the
attainment or maintenance of water quality. A
management conference for San Francisco Bay-Delta was
convened more than a month ago.
In accordance with provisions of the Act, EPA is
considering the nomination of Santa Monica Bay as well.
Lee Thomas has said that California's commitment to
protect the state's estuaries and coastal environment is
encouraging, likewise its foresight in inventorying other
coastal waterbodies for potential inclusion in the National
Estuary Program.
By the summer of 1988 EPA plans to convene additional
estuary conferences. During this period, the Agency will
provide technical assistance to several states to assist them
in understanding program goals, requirements and
processes of the National Estuary Program. The Agency
must consider whether the stated purposes of a

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management conference are likely to be achieved.
Potential participants must demonstrate the ability and
commitment to:
•	assess trends in water quality and natural resource uses
•	determine the causes of fluctuations through data
collection and analysis
•	evaluate point and non-point loadings and relate them
to observed changes
•	write a comprehensive environmental plan, including
recommendations for priority action
•	coordinate implementation of a comprehensive plan
with federal, state and local agencies
•	provide monitoring to assess the effectiveness of
implementation and
•	coordinate with other federal assistance programs.
Other nationally significant estuaries in the program are
Narragansett and Buzzards Bays and Long Island,
Albemarle and Puget Sounds. ~
State-EPA Relations
Several months ago Lee Thomas asked the Office of Policy,
Planning and Evaluation (OPPE) to conduct a review of
the Agency's delegation and oversight policies and the
general status of state-EPA relations. This request was
made soon after last year's Baltimore Senior Managers'
Forum where considerable disagreement over the current
status and future direction of state-EPA relations was
manifest. OPPE recently reported its study findings, and
Thomas has met with state representatives and EPA
managers to discuss them.
The study found that broad support exists among state
and EPA managers for the "partnership" goal outlined in
the Agency's policies on state-EPA relations, but the
Agency has not seen the progress it had hoped for wherM
the policies were issued. The study concluded that despflP
support for the concept of partnership, powerful forces are
impeding progress. These forces include EPA's need to be
accountable for state and EPA performance and the fact
that several elements of EPA's organizational culture tend
to make moves toward supportive oversight difficult.
After discussions with Agency managers and state reps
Thomas concluded that, while the policies are sound and
do not require revision, both the Agency and states must
push harder to open up smooth and effective working
relationships in environmental programs. Several
initiatives already underway have developed some
momentum in this direction. For example, the Task Force
on Technology Transfer and Training, made up of EPA
and state managers, recently completed its initial labors by
making several recommendations for improving the
exchange of information on technical assistance. Thomas
accepted the recommendations and asked the Task Force
to extend its mission to overseeing implementation as
well. Other initiatives in the area of data management and
region-based planning and priority-setting should also
militate toward better state-EPA relations.
However, these broad initiatives are not enough. For
example, Thomas hopes that "the recently initiated effort
by EPA's hazardous waste program and state officials to
address problems arising under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act will be constructive and helpful." Afta^
discussing the study findings and options, the state-EPA^|
Committee members agreed to follow this model by setting
up joint subcommittees to address several remaining
problems. They will conduct careful reviews with
representation from headquarters, regional offices and
states and will, if necessary, propose concrete changes in
Agency operations. ~
This new 50,000 sq. ft. low-radiation laboratory is being built in Montgomery, Alabama for OAR's Office of Radiation
Programs a few hundred yards from EPA's Eastern Environmental Radiation Facility, which it will replace. The
facility, ready for occupancy circa May 1989, comprises administration, chemistry, and physics wings. ~

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