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Early objectives at EPA
Q: Is there any way to mitigate that period of lame-duck time, where the flow of paperwork continues, without it becoming a millstone around the next administrator's neck? Or is that just a natural thing that there's no way to fix?
MR. COSTLE: I think it's going to happen. Having been an administrator, I think the last thing you want to do is bag your successor by leaving ticking time bombs. On the other hand, there may be some things you feel it's urgent to do before you leave, because they are part and parcel of what you consider your administration to be about. Given EPA's always intense, full workload, some throttling down may take place, but inevitably it's still a busy place. You may be able to mitigate some of that. The earlier you know who your successor is, the earlier you can start working with that person. That can make transitions easier.
I had a clear first set of objectives: Recruit the AAs and stabilize the agency. Take charge of the flow so the staff felt that they weren't spinning their wheels. Get on top of the critical legislative battles over the '77 Clean Air and Clean Water Amendments. And cutting a budget deal that provided additional resources, even before I got there, served as a signal that our new team wasn't simply a boarding party.
Another of my goals was to continue to build the state government infrastructure. EPA could never be everywhere; we needed to leverage our limited resources. By 1977, it was clear that dealing with environmental problems would be an ongoing, steady government responsibility. Building the national infrastructure to cope with that was essential.
Q: In hindsight, could the agency have done anything to make your transition smoother?
MR. COSTLE: The Agency was terrific. John Quarles was terrific. If I asked for information, they served it up. The pending Clean Air Act Amendments were complicated, and we had to rapidly formulate an administration position. We were really forced to rely on the career staff. One thing I had learned in Connecticut was that career people are an extraordinary resource. You not only ignore this at your peril, but you are foolish in the extreme if you don't take advantage of their knowledge and understanding. You still have to bring leadership and, ultimately, your own public policy choices. But if you don't harness yourself to the agency and its skills right away, you lose. You have to ask the right questions. You will find some career people who have, for whatever reason, a rigid point of view. But I remember the agency being eager to help, and I was eager to have that help. Besides the budget increase, I had worked it out with President Carter that I would attend Cabinet meetings and be dealt in on key administration decisions from which Russ Train had been shut out. So the staff felt hopeful, and I think they were pleased with the caliber of AAs that we very quickly announced.
I recruited Steve Jellinek from CEQ to run the new Toxic Substances program. Along with the appointments of Drayton, Jorling, Hawkins and Gage, the signal to the career people was that this team had been on the barricades with them. Dealing with the agency internally is like dealing with the White House. It's a bank account on which you are always making withdrawals. Every day you send the White House bad news, so you'd better make healthy deposits along the way so you keep a positive balance in your account. The same with career staff: you are not going to get the best from people if you are beating up on them. They need to feel that you appreciate what they do, that you respect them for what they know and bring to the discussion. In return, they expect you to lead, to be decisive. They are not going to begrudge losing this or that bureaucratic battle as long as they think it's been a fair game.
My father-in-law had been one of FDR's (Franklin Delano Roosevelt's) young bright assistants. He told wonderful stories about the New Deal: the excitement, the fact of breaking new ground, the camaraderie, and the sense that what they were engaged in was of great national purpose. I think that EPA's first full decade was about as close to the spirit of the New Deal as you can come.
Q: So you had an FDR model?
MR. COSTLE: Not in any formal way. But I remember looking at resumes we were getting for the General Counsel's office. They'd knock your socks off. When talented people really want to do something like this, which usually involves some sacrifice, that's a terrific sign. Good people always have somewhere else they can go.