April 15, 1996

TO:	Communication and Outreach Work Group Members

SUBJECT:	Minutes from April 4, 1996 Communication and Outreach Work Group meeting.

I.	PURPOSE

A conference call was held on April 4, 1996 to discuss the progress of the Work Group. 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

Alice Collingwood, PSAPCA

Stephanie Cooper, OTC - for Bruce Carhart

Nancy Kruger, STAPPA/ALAPCO

Bob LaCount, MDE - for Tad Aburn

Richard Paul, AAMA (replacing Rob Valero)

Caryl Pfeiffer, KY Utilities Co.

Nancy Seidman, MA DEP

Quin Shea, NMA

Scott Thomas, OK DEQ

Work Group members not in attendance:

Kathy Ellis, DOD

Veronica Kun, NRDC West

Sandy Stash, ARCO

Other EPA attendees: Susan Bullard (OMS), Betty Pendergast (OMS), Larry Wallace, Barbara Parzygnat, Christine Sansevero

Other attendees: Donna Lee Jones, EC/R Incorporated (EPA Contractor Support)

III.	MEETING SUMMARY

ACTION ITEMS

1)	Susan Bullard will contact Bud Ward of the Society for Environmental Journalists about getting their help to disseminate Communication and Outreach Work Group products and about getting information about their group. Susan will send the information to Jan Kleeman.

2)	Nancy Kruger will find out from STAPPA what information they already have about the FACA process and revised standards.

3)	Richard Paul will prepare a list of key contacts from industry.

4)	Susan Bullard will provide the OMS template for communication of regulatory information. She will get this to Jan Kleeman or Tom Curran next week who will try to get it on the TTN.

5)	Nancy Kruger will distribute the Interim Implementation Transistion Policy (IITP) to STAPPA at a meeting on April 5.

6)	Comments on the IITP should be given to Jan ASAP, by Monday, April 15th, the latest.

7)	List of key audience contacts for the Communication and Outreach Work Group also should be given to Jan Kleeman by the 15th. Alice Collingwood's memo of 3/15 can be used as a starting point.

OTHER

1)	Schedule for upcoming meetings:

4/18	12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	919/541-1591

5/2	12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	202/260-7280 (#9502)

5/16	12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	919/541-1591

5/30	12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	202/260-7280 (#9502)

2)	Changes in Work Group membership. Richard Paul has replaced Rob Valero as the AAMA representative.

3)	There is another face-to-face meeting being planned in May. Specific dates will be announced soon.

4)	Bill Hamilton is in the process of preparing a statement that describes the FACA process and goals. This statement is suitable for distribution to the public. Tom Curran will ask Bill Hamilton about the status of this FACA "statement" paper after this meeting.

5)	An Internet Home Page is being developed for the FACA process.

6)	The OAQPS TTN will have a FACA bulletin board set up by Friday, April 12, 1996. The FACA bulletin board will have separate areas for the Subcommittee's 5 Work Groups that are readable by all but restricted from upload to only the Work Group members. The FACA bulletin board will also have a general information area to load publicly available documents. There will be a restricted development area which can only be accessed by FACA members. The bulletin board's "Alerts" section can be used to regularly scan for newly posted items.

7)	Tom Curran will report on the activities of EPA/OAQPS's Education and Outreach Group in the next call, especially in regard to satellite downlinks.

8)	The full FACA Subcommittee was told that the Communication and Outreach Work Group would have the "Action Plan" ready by the end of April.

IV.	SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

Recap of 3/20 face-to-face meeting

Jan Kleeman began the teleconference by summarizing the events of the face-to-face meeting that took place on March 20 in Alexandria, VA. Jan Kleeman said that she thought that it had been a good meeting. The discussion on lists of contacts was comprehensive and the meeting productive in general. The key point raised at the end of the meeting was "How does the Work Group get an action plan together?" No comments were made on the minutes from this meeting.

Development of Contacts List

Susan Bullard brought forth the name of a group that could be a key contact for dissemination of Communication and Outreach Work Group products: the Society for Environmental Journalists, that is comprised of approximately 2,000 people and run by Bud Ward, who is also the Director of the Environmental Center for the National Safety Council. Susan Bullard is trying to get the Society's report on its purpose. The Society has newsletters for contact with their members as well as CD-ROM updates. Using this group as a contact has the advantage that it is outside and independent of federal agencies. Susan Bullard has an active contractual agreement that is near its capacity. A new agreement is on the way but may not be in place in time to help the Communication and Outreach Work Group. Susan Bullard may be able to get some advice from Bud under her current agreement. She will give Jan Kleeman any information she gets for the Communication and Outreach Work Group.

The point was raised that there are mechanisms to get through to the EPA Regions. The Regions have a Public Affairs Office that deals with the media and other outside issues. There is also a Clean Air Act Coordinator for the Regions, Press Officers, and Mobile Source Regional Outreach Coordinators. Karen Borel (Region IV) is the Regional representative on the work group and will be responsible for coordinating with the other regions. The Regional offices have a history of good relationships with journalists, trade associations, and the trade journals.

Ron White brought up the point that mechanisms to get news outside of DC are needed. The EPA press office is limited to real news items so, until the Phase I regulations, the ozone and PM standards may not be big enough news for them. He thought that the Society for Environmental Journalists (with or without the Environmental Health Center contacts), the Regional Offices, and STAPPA/ALAPCO may be the best targets. He asked whether STAPPA had been contacted by Nancy Kruger yet. Nancy Kruger said that the STAPPA/ALAPCO outreach group is not aware yet of what they will need to communicate from the FACA process. She has asked them what type of materials they would need, and is also awaiting a response from them on what they already have.

A key target distribution list was suggested, as opposed to a huge list for dissemination of Communication and Outreach Work Group products. A concise list of only 10 - 15 key people/groups was suggested. Tom Curran agreed that an exhaustive list is not desirable. He asked everyone to send their suggestions for key contacts to Jan Kleeman. Richard Paul volunteered to prepare the list of key/important contacts for industry.

Susan Bullard suggested that a ripple effect of Communication and Outreach Work Group information may be possible with targeting only a few key contacts. She also suggested that the Communication and Outreach Work Group convene a meeting to "put into plain English" what we want to say to these key contacts and make them comfortable with the information, and also to motivate them to disseminate the information. She suggested that this could be called a "mini" workshop. It was also suggested that the "mini" workshop could piggy-back on another meeting to minimize travel.

A question was asked whether to target both state and locals or STAPPA/ALAPCO only? Nancy Kruger responded that STAPPA can handle all the distribution because they already have the network and mailing labels ready.

OMS Communications Report from Susan Bullard (OMS)

Susan Bullard reported on the new formal approach to communication, education, and outreach in place at EPA's Office of Mobile Standards (OMS). This OMS approach was initiated because they realized that the public doesn't understand what OMS is doing, nor what the benefits are of OMS regulations. The goals of the OMS communication and outreach program are to: 1) strengthen the public perception of the health issues of concern to OMS, 2) raise consumer awareness and willingness to take action, e.g. vehicle maintenance, and 3) promote strategic and thoughtful interactions with service industry technicians.

To achieve these goals, OMS is building an infrastructure for education and communication in all activities, especially to bridge the gaps between technical and outreach personnel. As part of the new OMS communication and outreach activities, OMS is specifically: 1) focusing on a national outreach campaign to produce partnerships with consumer, health, and education organizations, and with state and local air pollution control agencies, 2) developing communication tools for the states, and 3) coordinating its information dissemination.

The overall focus of the OMS program is to look at behavior with the most impact-- maintaining cars. OMS will be using DOT to help reinforce the air quality message. OMS will also target nonattainment areas during the summer months. OMS is using market research to find out what the public understands and what the public is prepared to do.

Review of Interim Implementation Transition Policy (IITP)

The draft IITP was prepared by EPA and revised by the Base Programs Work Group. This draft document was handed out at the FACA Subcommittee meeting. The draft needs to be reviewed by the Communication and Outreach Work Group to 1) determine if the information will meet the needs of our target audiences, 2) to identify any deficiencies, and 3) to provide feedback in general. Jan Kleeman would like Communication and Outreach Work Group comments on the IITP by the 15th.

Nancy Kruger asked whether she could give the document out at the STAPPA/ALAPCO meeting on April 5th. She was given permission to distribute the draft IITP to the public now.

FACA Bulletin Board on TTN - Access Options

The FACA bulletin board is being set up on the OAQPS TTN for distributing minutes and other items in the FACA process. It will be operational by 4/12/96 (Friday). The FACA bulletin board will have separate areas for: 1) Subcommittee and Work Groups, that is readable by the general public but restricted for upload to only the Subcommittee or Work Group members; 2) general information that will include any publicly available documents.

It was asked whether Jan Kleeman could FAX everyone a message when there is something on the bulletin board for Communication and Outreach Work Group members to check. Jan Kleeman suggested that alternatively the Work Group members can use the "alerts" section of the bulletin board to determine which items have recently been added. She thought that if Communication and Outreach Work Group members check the bulletin board once a week, they could keep up with the information; however, if a quick response is needed for special items, she will make sure everyone is contacted directly.

It was suggested that one section of the Work Group bulletin board be restricted to only Work Group members for product development. Other Work Groups believe that an "upload only" restriction is sufficient, with disclaimers put on all documents that are drafts. It was said that it would be too distracting if Work Group members had to answer queries about items appearing in drafts that were accessed by non-Work Group members, especially if authorship is identified. The bulletin board was thought to be too public for draft documents but fine for minutes.

Tom Curran said that final decisions about the bulletin board had not been made yet. There is a meeting scheduled for the afternoon of April 4th on this subject and he will bring these Communication and Outreach opinions to the meeting. He summarized the Communication and Outreach comments by saying that there is a need for a private development area for the Work Group members.

Action Plan Development

A question was raised about the products of the Communication and Outreach Work Group. In this respect, Polly Hunter will be able to provide some assistance. Satellite downlinks have been successfully used by the EPA/OAQPS's Education and Outreach Work Group. Tom Curran will report on these activities in the next call.

Ron White reported from the Coordination Work Group that a concern was raised about who would be responsible to the "customers" of the FACA process to make sure that all the information is made available to them, i.e. outreach and dissemination of the FACA process information. The Communication and Outreach Work Group doesn't necessarily know what the other FACA Work Groups are doing and the answers they are giving. Tom Curran and Ron White will field any questions from the Coordination Work Group since they have a standing invitation to attend the meetings of the Coordination Group.

The question was raised as to whether the FACA Subcommittee should provide all the information to be included in the Communication and Outreach Work Group report, i.e. EPA may need to provide some information. The response given to this question was that although the answers to some questions may need to come from outside of FACA, getting the answers is part of the FACA process, and it is the Communication and Outreach Work Group's role to pass these questions on to the Coordination Work Group. Tom Curran said that he thought OAQPS would definitely want to help answer some of the questions.

Susan Bullard said that based on her experience in OMS, the EPA Press Office would not likely issue a press release that is a proactive educational exchange. She said that she has found the EPA Press Office to be very conservative in this regard, since she herself only remembers three EPA press releases from OMS. She also would include background briefings for reporters an unlikely prospect from the EPA Press Office. Since the EPA budget is really in the spotlight now, the Communication and Outreach Work Group should choose a different route that doesn't include the EPA Press Office.

Susan Bullard suggested a good concept to think about is a "one document" product that describes the process and goals of FACA in one statement, i.e. answers the questions "What is FACA" and other frequently asked questions. Tom Curran responded that EPA, specifically Bill Hamilton, is preparing this statement. Tom Curran will check on the status of the FACA "statement" paper after this meeting. Tom Curran believes the Bulletin Board and the Internet Page for the FACA process will prompt the need for this statement. Jan Kleeman said that she thought we may need to reformat this statement to meet the Communication and Outreach Work Group goals. Susan Bullard volunteered to work with Bill Hamilton on this task.

Tom Curran brought up the idea of using the Internet and/or e-mail to distribute Communication and Outreach Work Group information. Rather than just delivering a hard copy, posting information on an electronic network of some sort and attaching a file to download would allow for wider distribution. The goal would be to keep the information general so that it can be tailored locally.

A discussion was held on the pro's and con's of using the Internet. Some people have Internet only at home, and others that do have Internet at the office may not be encouraged to access nonwork-related areas. Tom Curran said that 80 percent of TTN bulletin board users do not access the board through the Internet.

Tom Curran brought up the question about whether the Communication and Outreach Work Group really could prepare an Action Plan by conference call. He said that one approach is to break the plan into pieces and assign parts to different people. The rough versions can then be distributed for all to add criticisms and improve.

A question was raised as to the structure of the Action Plan. One suggestion was to prepare a timeline on one side of the page and then look at the key activities and mechanisms for outreach and input, key milestones, etc. on the other.

Susan Bullard suggested using the communication template that OMS uses for every regulation. The template is a 30-page fill-in-the-blank type document that is currently not available in an electronic version. Susan Bullard will provide a hard copy to Jan Kleeman early next week. Jan Kleeman may be able to scan the document to develop an electronic copy. The template consists of a one-page background statement with the remaining pages containing multiple spaces of fill-in blanks for responses.

Quin Shea suggested that this OMS document could be the skeleton of an "Action Plan" and that the meat of the plan could be the work products of the other Work Groups. He asked whether everyone on the Communication and Outreach Work Group was seeing the other Work Groups' minutes? Jan Kleeman responded that they were not being distributed mostly due to sheer volume. The start-up of the FACA Bulletin Board on the TTN should eliminate this problem, since all the minutes will be posted on the board.

It was summarized that the structure of the "Action Plan" is shaping up to include: a) a timeline with milestones and (detailed) products, and b) a separate list of other things that need to be set in motion, e.g. briefings for journalists, satellite meetings, and state and locals contacts. The OMS document will be used as a template for the action plan. The full FACA Subcommittee was told that the Communication and Outreach Work Group will have the "Action Plan" ready by the end of April.

On the subject of satellite downlink, a Work Group member was worried whether the grass roots interest groups had access to a downlink site. Tom Curran said that home satellite dishes should be able to pick up whatever is transmitted. Tom Curran said that there is a Clean Air Act satellite download in June/July on which the Communication and Outreach Work Group may be able to piggyback.