Expectations of EPA in mid-1970s

Q: When you first became Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management, what were your personal expectations there, and what ideas did you bring to the agency?

MR. ALM: I had been involved with economic analysis issues. So, I was interested in strengthening EPA's ability to conduct economic analysis. I thought this was going to be a big issue within the administration and felt that if EPA had a good capability, it would fare much, much better in its relationships with OMB and the White House. Initially, that was something that I was very interested in.

I think when you actually take on a job like this, you begin to get a better sense of the issues. Early in my tenure as Assistant Administrator, EPA was implementing the Clean Water Act. I spent a lot of time on Water Act issues: the development of the effluent guideline process, the NPDES permit program, and financial safeguards for the construction grant program, which at one time was the biggest public works program in the country.

I also got involved with Clean Air Act issues - with what became the rules for prevention of significant deterioration. I also helped develop the administration's position on what became the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act.

Toward the end of my tenure as Assistant Administrator, I was involved with reorganizing the agency so that it could implement the Safe Drinking Water Act program, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

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Expectations of EPA in mid-1970s

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