DATE:	March 11, 1996

SUBJECT:	Minutes from March 6, 1996 Communication and Outreach Work Group Conference Call

I.	PURPOSE

A conference call was held on March 6, 1996 to discuss potential Work Group products and how intended audiences might best be reached. Following is a summary of the discussion and proposed action items.

II.	PARTICIPANTS

Work Group members in attendance:

Tom Curran, Co-chair, OAQPS/ITG

Ron White, Co-chair, ALA

Jan Kleeman, OAQPS/ITG

Bruce Carhart, OTC

Alice Collingwood, PSAPCA

Nancy Krueger, STAPPA/ALAPCO

Charla Rudisill (for Nancy Seidman), Massachusetts DEP

Scott Thomas, Oklahoma DEQ

Rob Valero, AAMA

Work Group Members not in Attendance:

Tad Aburn, MDE

Kathy Ellis, DOD

Veronica Kun, NRDC West

Caryl Pfeiffer, Kentucky Utilities Co.

Quin Shea, NMA

Sandy Stash, ARCO

Other EPA attendees: Bill Hamilton (Designated Federal Official), Bob Stallings, Larry Wallace, Denise Gerth, and Karen Borel (Region IV).

Donna Lee Jones and Eric Schweitzer, EC/R Incorporated (EPA Contractor support)

III.	MEETING SUMMARY

Action items

1) Members will return comments on Alice Collingwood's list of salient questions to either her, or Jan Kleeman, by Wednesday, March 13.

2) Alice Collingwood will incorporate members comments to the list of questions and condense it for presentation at the next meeting. She will send a copy to Jan Kleeman by Friday, March 15, and also send copies to the other Work Groups.

3) The first question on the list Alice Collingwood compiled will be changed to "What does integrated implementation mean?"

4) Tom Curran will meet with Jeff Clark on Friday, March 8 to discuss what EPA should be doing regarding the development of communication products for ozone/RH/PM integrated implementation.

5) Ron White will call his clean air media contacts in the Washington, DC area and ask them what questions they want answered.

6) Rob Valero will compile a list of questions industry has, in a similar fashion to what Alice Collingwood did for State/local agencies.

7) Ron White will also compile a list of questions from environmental and health groups and have it ready for distribution by the full FACA Subcommittee meeting.

8) Tom Curran will relay how EPA's Education and Outreach staff responded to the idea of satellite downlinks at the next meeting.

Other items to note:

1) Work Group communications will be sent by both fax and e-mail to those having problems with e-mail until e-mail issues can be overcome.

2) The next Communication and Outreach Work Group meeting will be in Alexandria, VA on Wednesday March 20, 1996 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Radisson Mark Hotel. There is a conference line available with 15 lines. The call-in number is (202) 260-7280, access code 1882#. There will be an initial 30-minute period for introductions of Work Group participants.

3) The FACA Ozone, PM, and Regional Haze Implementation Programs Subcommittee will meet at the Radisson on Thursday, March 21, and the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, March 22.

4) The next teleconference call is scheduled for Thursday, April 4, 1996, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. EST. The call-in number and access code are (202) 260-7280, access code 9502#.

5) The question of whether output from other Work Groups will satisfy the needs of this Work Group will be discussed in the upcoming FACA Subcommittee meeting.

IV.	SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

Committee Business

Jan Kleeman began the meeting by summarizing the information sent to members since the last meeting. This included minutes, the agenda for today's meeting, and Alice Collingwood's list of questions State/local agencies would like answered. She also sent a draft agenda today via e-mail for the upcoming Communication and Outreach Work Group meeting in Alexandria, VA.

Communications with members have been made via e-mail where possible. Some members are still having trouble with e-mail messages, but Jan Kleeman has tried including separate files with the e-mail message itself and this has worked for most people. Ron White had not received today's e-mail message as of the meeting.

Bruce Carhart, Rob Valero, Nancy Kruger, Scott Thomas, and Ron White all plan to be present at the 3/20/96 meeting in Alexandria, VA. Nancy Seidman and Alice Collingwood do not plan to attend.

Reaching & Identifying Target Audiences

Tom Curran initiated a discussion on getting feedback on what the Work Group needs to produce for the target audiences, especially the media. Ron White stressed the need to not make assumptions in advance about what the audiences will want. Although he will inquire about what his clean air media contacts in the Washington, DC area think would be effective communication tools, he urged members to also keep media contacts "outside the beltway" in mind.

Scott Thomas noted that Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) work closely with the media and they are already discussing the upcoming ozone standard in Oklahoma.

Ron White suggested treating members of the press to a luncheon as a way to inform them of the process and get their input. Bruce Carhart concurred with this suggestion. EPA budget constraints were noted.

Ron White questioned whether meetings are necessary for outreach. Are audiences likely to reach the Work Group, or visa versa? Tom Curran noted the present limitations of EPA's travel budget, which precludes some of the technical talks and other activities done in the past.

Tom Curran suggested the possibility of setting up a clearinghouse for materials - possibly a World Wide Web site offering wide accessibility. Alice Collingwood concurred, noting that it would offer the flexibility of adding updates in the future, as more information became available.

Tom Curran discussed producing a monthly status report to keep people current with the schedule. Alice Collingwood agreed and emphasized the need to be thorough, yet concise. There can be the option of pursuing items in greater detail for those who want to. For instance, hypertext links on the Internet. Several members liked the idea of creating a World Wide Web site for this purpose.

Another popular idea about how to reach the audiences was satellite downlinks. These could be timed to coincide with important milestones such as the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR), and would reduce travel demands on EPA.

Timeframe for Accomplishing Objectives

Tom Curran noted the need to begin the communication process now. He thinks the upcoming ANPR for implementation of ozone and PM and the ozone NAAQS NPR (both scheduled for July 1996) would be a good time for a substantial information transfer.

Alice Collingwood mentioned that another communication work group she chaired identified the same audiences as this Work Group. The other work group believes that the distribution of materials must commence early to gain the support of public officials. State/local agencies also believe it is important to gain this support and want the process to begin now for the ozone/PM standards - before the flow of technical information begins.

Work Group Objectives and Products

Generic health effects information which does not target any specific pollutant was suggested as an example of a useful material to gain the support of public officials.

Tom Curran again brought up the issue of how to best reach the target audiences. Alice Collingwood noted that WESTAR recommended producing a general video on health and lifestyle choices. She suggested that the American Lung Association could be a partner in the video's development. Also, issue papers could be tailored to local communities - with visual elements added by region. This would yield the dual benefits of national consistency and local applicability.

Nancy Kruger noted concern over the timing of information dissemination. It would be best to start now and gradually transfer information - ensuring that the message is consistent within regions. She liked the idea of developing a basic packet of information for State/local agencies that would be relevant on a national basis, and supplement it with local material, such as slides.

Alice Collingwood listed the following three issues as being the salient ones at the STAPPA/ALAPCO and WESTAR meetings she recently attended:

1) There was concern about having adequate time to do sufficient monitoring to allow for correct attainment/designation determinations. Some felt that this was not done correctly the last time the PM NAAQS was changed.

2) Western states have specific issues they want addressed, such as wind-blown dust and other natural events.

3) There were no real objections to a change in the standard, but there was a desire for sufficient time in order to do it right.

Ron White asked if more information on health effects and cost/benefit issues was needed. Alice Collingwood replied that more health effects information was definitely desired by both STAPPA/ALAPCO and WESTAR to communicate credibly. There was concern about the possibility of encountering skepticism regarding the necessity of the new standard and subsequent measures. A "now that you've fixed the problem, you're generating a new one to preserve your job" sentiment may arise. She also noted that the WESTAR and STAPPA/ALAPCO attendees want the communication to originate from the health community, and not the regulatory community. The attendees also had monitoring questions.

In response to the question of whether the other Work Groups are producing material that will be relevant to the target audiences, it was suggested that the edited version of the State/local agency question list be sent to each of the other FACA Subcommittee Work Groups. Ron White suggested addressing this issue at the upcoming FACA Subcommittee meeting. Alice Collingwood mentioned how the five WESTAR Work Groups have had great success with coming together periodically to share their progress.

Nancy Kruger asked how the other Work Groups will use the list of questions that this Work Group is planning to send to them. Tom Curran replied that the FACA Subcommittee is in the position to influence what the Work Groups produce. The Communication and Outreach Work Group's efforts are directed to people outside the FACA process. If our four target audiences cannot effectively communicate the issues, it will be problematic for the implementation program.

Ron White and Alice Collingwood both suggested that the other Work Groups include user-friendly Executive Summaries with their reports. This would be ideally as non-technical as possible, while still maintaining the approval of the respective Work Groups.

Bruce Carhart again emphasized the need to communicate the regionality of the regional haze, PM, and ozone problems to the public. Alice Collingwood concurred and noted that this came up in the recent WESTAR meeting. She further added that this is an issue, even in the less-densely populated West.

Miscellaneous

Nancy Kruger attended the recent WESTAR Communications meeting. Attendees were excited about PM and public outreach issues and interested in developing a communication package. Alice Collingwood attended the WESTAR Communications work session and gathered their questions. She also went to the monthly Washington State STAPPA/ALAPCO meeting. She compiled the list of fifty-four questions that was sent to members from the input at these two meetings without editing it.

Several members sought clarification on a question from Alice Collingwood's list, regarding whether the upcoming regulation is an integrated standard. There seems to be confusion between an integrated standard and an integrated implementation strategy. Ron White noted that some people think the EPA is considering a joint ozone-PM standard.

The question of what the Coordination Group's role was in relation to the Work Groups and the Subcommittee was raised. Ron White described the role of the Coordination Group as one of ensuring that the Work Groups stay on track, reading the project reports, and resolving issues of competing results. The bulk of the work is to be done by the individual Work Groups, with the Coordination Group deciding which issues need to be raised to the full Subcommittee. Thus, the structure is bottom up versus top down. The Work Groups do not dictate the issues, but rather ensure the questions our target audiences want answered are adequately addressed. At the present time, people need to be informed about the FACA process itself, and then ultimately the goal will be how to share the process output.