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Question 5: With respect to the coordination of Federal action regarding air, water, and solid waste pollution abatement, what agreements exist between HEW and other agencies and how is coordination effected to insure that Federal choices and emphasis among research programs do not create problems and deficiencies in other areas?

Answer: The recent transfer of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to the Department of the Interior will require that new lines of communication and coordination be established with this program. The necessary arrangements are currently being worked out by representatives of both Departments.

Coordination with the Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior, whose research in air pollution is supported in part by contracts with the Division of Air Pollution, is accomplished by frequent top-level meetings and almost constant liaison among lower level scientific personnel. The Bureau of Mines (and all other Federal agencies conducting research under contracts with the Division of Air Pollution) submits quarterly reports of technical progress and an annual summary report.

The need for close coordination with the activities of the Office of Solid Waste Disposal of the Public Health Service is met in large part through constant communication with staff of that program. The fact that both the Office of Solid Wastes and the Division of Air Pollution are in the same organizational unit of the Public Health Service facilitates liaison and provides opportunities for policy and planning coordination at the next highest level of authority.

The Interdepartmental Committee for Atmospheric Sciences of the Federal Council for Science and Technology is charged with promoting closer cooperation among Federal agencies concerned with problems in the atmospheric sciences, facilitating resolution of common problems, improving the planning and management of research in this area, and advising the President on coordination of Federal programs in the atmospheric sciences. The Division of Air Pollution represents the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on this Committee.

The Division of Air Pollution also represents the Department on the Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Applied Meteorological Research, which seeks to coordinate the activities of all Federal agencies that provide and use meteorological services or are engaged in meteorological research. The purposes of this group include coordination of research activities, sharing of facilities where possible, standardization of equipment, cooperation in recruitment and training, and identification of major limitations in meteorological knowledge.

A number of Federal agencies which are not directly concerned with air pollution are nonetheless involved in activities which have an important bearing on community air pollution problems. Examples of such programs include the urban renewal and urban mass transit activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the activities of the General Services Administration with respect to purchases of motor vehicles for use by Federal agencies. The legislation authorizing the urban mass transit program required that new vehicles purchased with Federal aid meet air pollution control speci

fications established by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. The development and application of these specifications have been a subject of regular contact between personnel of the Division of Air Pollution and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In similar fashion, standards established by the General Services Administration for control of air pollution from the new motor vehicles it purchases were developed through consultation with the Division of Air Pollution.

No mechanism exists for regular liaison with the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation has not requested that it be kept advised of technological needs in the air pollution field.

The accompanying report provides additional information on coordination of Federal activities in the field of air pollution control.

CURRENT TRENDS IN FEDERAL INTERAGENCY RELATIONS CONCERNING AIR POLLUTION (By the Division of Air Pollution, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, June 1965)

An important and interesting aspect of the Federal air pollution control program, since its inception in 1955 with the passage of Public Law 84-159, has been the participation in this program by several Federal departments and agencies. However, recent developments have been altering the pattern of interagency relationships in this field.

Prior to the enactment of P.L. 84-159 in 1955, "an Act to provide research and technical assistance relating to air pollution control," an Ad Hoc Interdepartmental Committee on Community Air Pollution was established, in accordance with an informal request from the Office of the President, to survey the Federal role in air pollution and to make recommendations. In its report of April 8, 1955, the Committee included, among its several recommendations, the following: "In conducting this program, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare should utilize the available facilities and resources of other Federal departments and agencies for such necessary services as can best be provided by them."

P.L. 84-159, which was the first Federal statute authorizing an organized Federal air pollution program, incorporated many of the key recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee. It authorized the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to develop broad air pollution research programs, in cooperation with other Federal agencies. The Report of the Committee and the Federal air pollution legislation which followed in 1955, clearly designated the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to be the responsible agency for planning, directing, and conducting the overall program.

This early and definite recognition of the desirability of broad Federal agency participation, under the general direction of the Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was based on several key factors:

(1) The potential serious health hazards of air pollution, as exemplified by the Donora and London disasters and the acute problem in Los Angeles, constituted the basic impetus for the initiation of the Federal program. As a consequence, central responsibility for the program was lodged in the PHS-DHEW. At the same time, the potential health hazards created a sense of urgency to protect the public health through the rapid development of an effective air pollution control program. The use of existing organizations, with applicable technical competence and experience, appeared to offer the most promise for the earliest possible progress.

(2) On general principles of efficiency and sound management, it appeared desirable to make use of existing specialized technical expertise in the Federal establishment, and to avoid the potential cost of unnecessary duplication in building up parallel technical groups. In essence, the rationale of the Economy Act of 1932, which authorized the transfer of funds between Government agencies for the exchange of appropriate services, is pertinent to this approach.

(3) The terms of P.L. 84-159 were such as to place major emphasis on research programs. Broad research activity was authorized toward the end of elucidating the causes, behavior, effects, and means for control of air pollution. Such research activity necessarily involves many scientific, engineering, and related

technical disciplines. These disciplines, with the related accumulation of organizational experience, were to be found in several of the Federal departments and agencies. Several prominent examples are the meteorological competence of the Weather Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, the plant physiology competence in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the combustion and fuel technology experience of the Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Accordingly, a series of contractual arrangements was developed between the Public Health Service and the several Federal departments and agencies. From the central Federal air pollution appropriation made to the Public Health Service, funds were transferred, under the terms of the Economy Act, to the contractor Federal agencies. A summary listing of these contractual arrangements follows:

FEDERAL AGENCY AND NATURE OF SERVICES PROVIDED

Department of Agriculture

Research studies and technical assistance activities to determine the effects of air pollutants on agriculture and to explore the use of agricultural damage as indicators of air pollution. Department of Agriculture scientific personnel have been assigned to the Division of Air Pollution laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio, under this arrangement.

National Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce

Research projects concerned with the chemical reactions of various pollutants in the atmospheres and with the development of analytical procedures for the determination and measurement of certain pollutants. This work has been principally carried out in the research facilities of the National Bureau of Standards.

Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior

A variety of research projects relating to combustion processes, including work on sulfur dioxide removal from flue gas, desulfurization of fuel oil, removal of pollutants from motor vehicle exhaust, analytical methods for measurement of motor vehicle exhaust, extinguishment of burning coal mine waste piles, and incineration techniques. These activities have been carried out in several of the Bureau of Mines' laboratories.

Weather Bureau, Department of Commerce

Research and technical assistance activities concerned with the meteorological aspects of air pollution. These include the transport of air pollutants, diffusion and dispersal of pollutants, tracer studies, development of episode forecasting techniques, and adaptation of the meteorological factor to land use control in industrial zoning. The Weather Bureau has a team of professional meteorologists assigned to the Division of Air Pollution research laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the principal activities are conducted; some air pollution research is carried out in Weather Bureau facilities.

Library of Congress

Air pollution literature abstracting services which have been coordinated with the related activities of the Air Pollution Control Association and appear as APCA Abstracts. The Library concentrates on foreign journals and on the biological sciences.

Tennessee Valley Authority

Studies to document flume behavior and related elements under various meteorological conditions with emphasis upon studies concerned with sulfur dioxide emissions. This work is primarily carried out at TVA plants and facilities. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce

The Census Bureau has been used intermittently, on a contract basis, as a key input factor for epidemiological studies involving large population groups. Studies associating various diseases with air pollution, particularly in urban areas, make use of data developed by the Bureau.

For the most part, these contractual relationships started in 1956 and have continued to date. The specific, discrete, projects which are undertaken by the contractor agencies are developed through technical discussions and negotiations and are documented in formal letters of agreement between the Public Health Service and the agencies concerned. Technical progress and related fiscal reports are submitted to the Public Health Service on a quarterly basis.

The common thread which runs through all of the arrangements listed above is the research and research-related nature of the services provided. As mentioned above, this was a logical consequence of the research emphasis of P.L. 84159, the first Federal air pollution law enacted in 1955.

Much valuable scientific and technical information has resulted from this intraGovernmental research effort. It is not the purpose of this paper to document these contributions, but some degree of this contribution is evidenced by the many published technical papers, reports, monographs, and other manifestations of the work of these agencies.

CURRENT TRENDS SINCE THE CLEAN AIR ACT OF 1963

The Clean Air Act (Public Law 88-206), "an Act to improve, strengthen, and accelerate programs for the prevention and abatement of air pollution," was signed by the President December 17, 1963. The main thrust of this legislation may be summarized as an extension of the Federal air pollution program from one of a relatively limited research and technical assistance orientation to one placing much greater emphasis on prevention and control of air pollution.

While continuing to recognize "that the prevention and control of air pollution at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments," this new emphasis on control is revealed in several provisions of the Act. Grantsin-aid, on a matching basis, are authorized for award to States and communities for initiation, extension, or improvement of air pollution control programs. Limited Federal abatement authority is authorized, principally in areas of interstate air pollution. Another provision empowers the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to carry out a permit system as a means of controlling air pollution from Federal installations.

This recent legislative emphasis on actual control activities is reflected in a newly emerging pattern of relationships between other Federal agencies and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare which continues to have responsibility for and the overall coordinating and directing role in the Federal air pollution program.

Concomitant with these newly emerging patterns reflecting control emphasis, the Clean Air Act calls for a strengthening of the research program and, additionally, calls for special attention to specific areas of research. Examples of such areas are the development of processes, methods and prototype devices for control; the development of air quality criteria; and research toward the development of techniques for extraction of sulfur from fuels. This renewed emphasis on difficult research problem areas will probably result in a continued and accelerated use of certain of the Federal agencies as a means of moving ahead more rapidly. For example, the expertise of the Bureau of Mines in fuel technology will be most valuable in a stepped-up research activity concerned with the widespread problem of oxides of sulfur in the atmosphere.

Thus, the research challenges still before us will continue to require contractual research services of key Federal agencies. At the same time there is also now emerging a new pattern of Federal agency relationships, concerned principally with prevention and control activity.

AIR POLLUTION FROM FEDERAL FACILITIES

The activity involving the most broad and far-reaching set of Federal agency relationships relates to the provisions of Section 7 of the Clean Air Act, “Cooperation by Federal Agencies to Control Air Pollution from Federal Facilities." Section 7(a) essentially carries forward previous Government policy (Executive Order 10779 of 1958) and previous statutory provisions in P.L. 84–159 calling upon Federal agencies to cooperate, to the extent practicable, with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and with State and local air pollution control agencies, in controlling pollutant discharges from Federal installations. Section 7(b) authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish classes of potential pollution sources under Federal jurisdiction and authorizes the operation of a permit system for such sources. These provisions of the Act have their roots in Congressional intent that Federal installations perform in an exemplary manner and in general observe good community relationships. The legal problems involving Federal sovereignty and immunity from State or local regulations, of course, still obtain, but the intent is to encourage compliance and to place the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in a position of leadership, guidance, and direction to insure

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