United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Issue No. 21
February 21, 1983
Page 81
SBft TIMES
A Publication for EPA Employees
Brown Pledges Vigorous Wastes Program
Michael A. Brown, newly appointed EPA Acting
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and
Emergency Response, has stated that the
programs under his jurisdication will be
carried out in a responsive, effective and
vigorous manner.
Brown, who succeeds Rita M. Lavelle in
this post, explained that "we will have the
support of a lot of high quality people in
this program. I have found the people in EPA
to be excellent public servants, ranking
among the best in any Federal agency and the
fine people in the Ofl ice of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response stand out among all these."
Brown, former EPA enforcement counsel, said
that he expects to lead the solid waste and
emergency response program "until scmeone is
named to permanently replace me. I have a
great responsibility for carrying on the good
work being done here and not to let things
bog down.
"The personnel in this office have been
doing an outstanding job. These people have
a good head of steam up and the program is
proceeding very effectively."
Asked what advice he would give employees
who are questioned by Congressional ccmnittees
about EPA's programs, Brown replied:
"Tell the truth. With both the public and
the Congress, credibility must be earned.
Credibility is not given. We must show we
deserve it. We have to be responsive.
Sometimes, through misunderstandings, people
can lose confidence in you, especially if
they believe you are not leveling with them."
Regarding how he felt about the various
Congressional inquiries involving the Super-
fund activities in his program, Brown said:
"It's encouraging to know that you have
that much interest and support. It empha-
sizes how important our work is.
"It's all part of the constitutional pro-
cess. Congress has its role and I respect it.
I only hope the investigations are not so
disconcerting that they will interfere with
the important work here. We must keep the
program moving while we talk to Congress."
Asked if he thought some of the Congres-
sional subcommittees investigating EPA could
consolidate their work, Brown commented that
"we have to assume that Congress wouldn't have
separate subcommittees if they weren't needed.
However, some of these subcommittees do have
interlocking memberships and sane combination
of the inquiries might be possible. I don't
know, but in any case it's their call, and we
certainly will cooperate fully with the Con-
gressional subcommittees and committees."
Brown, who had previously served as Execu-
tive Director of the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission before joining EPA, said
that he does not plan any major personnel
changes in the waste and emergency response
programs. He also said that he does not
plan any extensive visits to the Agency's
regional and field offices until he has had
time to inform himself thoroughly about
headquarters operations.
On the question of what he would do if
someone else is named later to fill the
Assistant Administrator's post, Brown re-
plied that he would like to return to his
former post as Agency enforcement counsel.
"Unlike Thomas Wolfe," he commented, "I
think you can go home again."

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82
Personnel	
Job Openings
at EPA
Because of Agency-wide limi-
tations on hiring outside
EPA, Headquarters and
Regional offices are being
encouraged to meet staffing
needs by recruiting em-
ployees from within the
Agency. To facilitate this,
the Agency is initiating a
coordinated approach to iden-
tify Agency-wide recruitment
needs and to match those
needs against the qualifica-
tions of interested Agency
employees.
To assist both program
managers and employees in
intra-Agency reass ignments,
an Agency-wide Mobility Co-
ordinating Office has been es-
tablished. Ms. Carol Jordan,
former Deputy Director of
EPA's Noise program, who
played a key role in placing
employees of that Office in
other organizations, will
direct the new office.
Under the guidance of the
Administrator's Office and
the Personnel Management
Division, the Coordinator
will:
•	work with managers through-
out the Agency to ensure the
success of this effort;
•	assure that information on
vacancies throughout EPA is
communicated to all employees;
•	coordinate recruiting
visits among organizations and
arrange for interested em-
ployees to be interviewed;
•	advise interested employ-
ees on eligibility for pos-
itions, relocation expenses,
and attractive features of
the areas and/or organizations
where the jobs exist; and
•	identify and negotiate
"matches" of vacancies with
qualified employees.
As an example of what this
office will help coordinate,
Region 10 in Seattle recently
issued a list of positions
for which it desired intra-
Agency recruitment. Represen-
tatives from the Region visited
other Regional offices and
Headquarters to discuss em-
ployment possibilities with
interested employees. The
Seattle office received over
200 expressions of interest
and a number of placements
have already resulted.
In another instance, Region
3 sponsored a Job Fair in
which regions 1, 10 and EPA
Headquarters participated.
Region 3 employees were
able to explore, on a face-
to-face basis, employment
opportunities in other EPA
locations and to match their
qualifications with existing
vacancies.
Future issues of EPA Times
will list job vacancies. Mean-
while, for more details on
these vacancies, contact Ms.
Carol Jordan in Room 2111 WSM.
Watch future editions of the
EPA Times and Agency bulletin
boards for more details on
this program and the' tele-
phone number of the mobility
coordinator.
Brashear Named
to Head EPA
News Branch
Albert R. "Rusty" Brashear, a
former Congressional press di-
rector and television news di-
rector, has been named chief
of the Media Relations Branch
under the proposed Office of
Public Affairs reorganization.
Brashear was press director
for former Congressman Robin
Beard of Tennessee and also
acted as road manager for the
Congressman's 1982 Senate
race. From 1977 to 1979,
Brashear served as executive
assistant to the president of
the group that brought the
1982 World's Fair to Knox-
ville, Tennessee.
He was director of alumni
programs at the University
of Tennessee from 1975 to
1977 and had served as a tele-
vision news director in Knox-
ville fran 1970 to 1974.
Brashear is a graduate of the
University of Tennessee.
The EPA Times is published every two weeks by EPA's Office of Public Affairs, A-107,
Washington, D.C. 20460, to provide current information for all EPA employees. It is
punched with three holes for binding for future reference.

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