827 



departments were suddenly thrust under rhe same 



Ruckelshaus (who was the first admmistrator as 

 well as the current one) immediately recognized the 

 worldwide implications of his fledgling agency. Aftet 

 all, envitonmental pollution ignores national bound- 

 aries — oil spills do not stay in ternt 





1 respect a 



ated 2 



r space. He quickly 

 I of international activities charged with relat- 

 ing EPA's statutory assignments in the United States 

 to the needs and opportunities presented by other 

 countries and multinational organizanons. 



Ruckelshaus was nor unique in recognizing the 

 value of the international arena By the time they 

 arrived ar rhe newly born EPA in 1970. many of the 

 career employees were already personally bound up in 



commitments accompanied these employees from 

 their original agencies to their new home. 



Indeed. EPA employees were so committed over- 

 seas that they caused the agency some difficulty in 

 launching its own program Once these recruits ar- 

 rived at EPA. [he first step was to find out exactly 

 what they were already doing abroad. Understand- 

 ably, many were leery of losing the foreign dimension 

 of their careers. They were proud and protective of 



May 1984 



their far-flung renown; most iiked the perquisites and 

 stimulation of trips and conferences. Their EPA man- 

 agers found that they resisted divestiture of these 

 activities with the fury of a dog protecting his bone. 

 Nevertheless, the agency had to uncover the details of 

 these foreign connections and analyze their value in 

 terms of EPAs priorities and resources of money and 

 personnel. This information was secured by having all 

 would-be travelers complete a suitable form. 



After learning what it had inherited. EPA started 

 forming its own programs. Again, the internationa- 

 list nature of the career employees had an impact. 

 Resentment was not an unusual reaction whenever 

 permission for a trip was denied. However, enthusi- 

 asm reigned whenever the agency consented to trips 

 and pro)ects in which its employees had already 

 planned to participate or when additional people were 

 selected to go overseas In fact, since 1970 no EPA 

 employee has refused a foreign assignment! 



It soon became clear that both to avoid rankling the 

 troops and, even more important, to fulfill its new 

 duties, the agency would have to take a leading role m 

 international environmental affairs EPA had to lay 

 out basic goals. Three were quickly set which still 

 provide the guidelines for the agency's international 

 activities today. First, information bases should be 

 established abroad so that EPA can learn of new pollu- 

 tion control technologies, environmental research, 

 and management systems that have been developed 

 elsewhere. Thus the agency will avoid having to rein- 

 vent sliced bread while other countries forge ahead of 

 the United States. Second, the progress of the envi- 

 ronmental protection movement in the rest of the 

 world should be supported through technical assis- 

 tance, data exchange, and propaganda. Third. EPA 



The author (left) 

 talks with EPA Ad- 

 ministrator William 

 D. Ruckelshaus and 

 French Minister for 



52-283 0-86 



