Summary of Communication and Outreach

Work Group Meeting

June 9, 1997

I.	PURPOSE

An in-person Communication and Outreach (C&O) work group meeting took place on June 9, 1997 in Durham, North Carolina to discuss the issue paper summaries, management plan update, communication needs for promulgation, and the next work group meeting.

II.	PARTICIPANTS

Work Group Members in Attendance:

Tom Curran, Co-chair, OAQPS/ITG

Ron White, Co-chair, ALA

Jan Kleeman, OAQPS/ITG

Bill Baker, EPA/Region II

Bruce Carhart, OTC

Alice Collingwood, PSAPCA

Kathy Ellis, DOD

Nancy Kruger, STAPPA/ALAPCO

Jayne Mardock, Clean Air Network

Richard Paul, AAMA

Nancy Seidman, Massachusetts DEP

Quin Shea, NMA

Scott Thomas, Oklahoma DEQ

Work Group Members Not in Attendance:

Tad Aburn, MDE

Margaret Cook, Intertribal Council of Arizona

Mike Kenyon, EPA/Region I

Caryl Pfeiffer, Kentucky Utilities Co.

EPA Attendees: Jeff Clark, Jenny Noonan, Susan Studlien, and Debbie Stackhouse.

Other attendees: Deborah Amaral and Eric Schweitzer, EC/R Incorporated (EPA Contractor support).

III.	MEETING SUMMARY

Action Items

1.	It was suggested that in the future the number of pages in each document on the BBS be indicated in some manner. Because graphics greatly increase file size, simply noting document size is not always reflective of the number of pages in a document.

2.	Alice Collingwood volunteered to be the Communication and Outreach liaison for the Sustainable Development issue paper summary.

3.	It was suggested that the contractor finish summaries of issue papers in groups 1 and 2 before the standards are finalized, and those in group 3 before the next FACA Subcommittee meeting.

4.	It was suggested that the fonts on the issue paper summary cover sheet possibly be changed and a FACA heading be added to indicate the origin of the document.

5.	Jan Kleeman made the changes suggested by the work group to the Regional Air Management Partnerships and Areas of Influence issue paper summary at the meeting and will distribute revised copies to members later this week.

6.	There will be an update to the management plan for the October 8-10, 1997 meeting.

Other Items to Note

There will be a satellite downlink on July 24 and another implementation update (Phase I, regional haze, and monitoring) in late September. There will also be a national coordinator whom people can contact to find out how and where to get connected to a downlink.

Jeff Clark can be reached at (919) 541-5557 or via e-mail at: clark.jeffrey@epamail.epa.gov

The next work group conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, 1997 from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. EDT. The call in number is (919) 541-4424.

IV.	SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

Issue Paper Summaries

All issue papers are scheduled to return to the Subcommittee at least once, and none have been closed out yet. The work group cannot wait until issue papers have been closed out to begin generating the summaries. The contractor will develop initial drafts of three or four issue paper summaries at a time, which will then go to the C&O liaison for feedback. The C&O liaison will work directly with the issue paper authors.

It was suggested that in the future the number of pages in each document on the BBS be indicated in some manner. Because graphics greatly increase file size, simply noting document size is not always reflective of the number of pages in a document.

The issue papers were broken into groups based on the actual delivery date to the Subcommittee as follows:

Group 1)	AOIs, RAMPs, and Control Regions; AOV Boundaries; Classifications; Areas at Risk; Institutional Mechanisms

Group 2)	Progress During SIP Development; Reasonable Further Progress; Rewards and Sanctions

Group 3)	Control Strategies; Control Technology; General Economic Incentives

Group 4)	Area and Mobile Source Incentives; Contingency Measures; Transportation Conformity

The issue papers will be delivered to the contractor in the order of the above groups. It was suggested that the contractor finish groups 1 and 2 before the standards are finalized and group 3 before the next FACA Subcommittee meeting.

It was suggested that the fonts on the issue paper summary cover sheet possibly be changed and a FACA heading be added to indicate the origin of the document.

The Work Group spent approximately one hour editing the Regional Air Management Partnerships and Areas of Influence issue paper summary, which the authors have not seen yet. Jan Kleeman made the changes suggested by the work group at the meeting and will distribute revised copies to members later this week.

Communication Needs for Promulgation

Jeff Clark (Director of Policy Analysis and Communications) discussed communications successes and failures from the ozone/PM standard proposal last November and asked the work group for suggestions for the upcoming standards announcement. Fact sheets, press releases, a list of areas preliminarily determined to be out of compliance with the new standards, and a description of how promulgation differs from proposal will be made available for the announcement. STAPPA/ALAPCO had sufficient notice last time to prepare an 11-page statement in advance and get info on its Web Page, which was helpful. One member suggested making something available on public health impacts. Several members liked the fact sheets that had been distributed at the proposal last November.

Jeff Clark can be reached at (919) 541-5557 or via e-mail at clark.jeffrey@epamail.epa.gov

The work group discussed whether the Agency should make predictions of areas expected to be nonattainment under the new standards. Because the correlation between PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations is weak, several members thought EPA might come under criticism if it presents maps of counties expected to be nonattainment under the new PM2.5 standard. By not offering such estimations, the Agency would allow each area to answer questions of attainment status individually. Another member thought the final rule should use the PM10/PM2.5 correlation because the proposal did it that way. Also, it might be considered disingenuous to hold back what data are available. One possibility offered was to make a general comment such as "We expect major metropolitan areas such as X, Y and Z to be nonattainment, as well as some rural areas." EPA plans to display caveats pertaining to any nonattainment area maps used.

When asked for specific questions which their constituencies would like answered, work group members offered the following: 1) tell people that this is not all going to happen right away; 2) provide timelines and dates; 3) discuss how the OTAG SIP call process relates to the standards process; 4) cover "What does this mean to my city?"; 5) discuss "What's next?"; 6) talk about metropolitan areas; and 7) discuss AOIs.

Quin Shea suggested taking advantage of the intense attention the issue will receive at the announcement of the standards by advertising upcoming workshops and televised material at that time. EPA could utilize its monthly call to the EPA regional offices to discuss the announcement. Bill Becker suggested even advertising the appropriate Internet address (e.g., http://www.epa.gov/oar) on the podium from which the announcement is made because the Web resources will help people digest the information at their own pace.

There will be a satellite downlink on July 24 and another implementation update (Phase I, regional haze, and monitoring) in late September. There will also be a national coordinator whom people can contact to find out how and where to get connected to a downlink.

Management Plan Update

Alice Collingwood volunteered to be the C&O liaison for the Sustainable Development issue paper summary.

There will be an update to the management plan for the October, 8-10, 1997 meeting.

Next Work Group Meeting

The next work group conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, 1997 from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. EDT. The call in number is (919) 541-4424.

Approximately six work group members said they would be present at the August work group meeting.