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Thoughts on agency's organization structure
Q: If you were asked to tackle the agency's organizational structure, in 1993, what changes would you make?
MR. ALM: You know, I am not sure, I am honestly not sure. When I was in the agency, I started what became the policy of the agency to rotate people around - people would move from office to office, and from headquarters to the region, and from the region to the states. I think it is very important that, even though the laws are written the way they are, we begin to implement environmental programs as a totality. Because, in an ecosystem, or in any particular local area, you don't have just air pollution or just water pollution. You normally have a range of environmental insults.
I mention this, because I think you can begin to get this concept through to people, regardless of organization. I don't know of any nifty way to organize, that would both be operationally sound and begin to really integrate environmentally in a broader way. I have not thought about it for some time, and maybe if I really had the responsibility, I would come up with something. But I do think it is really important, very important, that people in the environmental field move around. You should not have people that are just water experts, or just air experts. They really need to have a broader concept of the environment.