Report on June 10, 2008 Meeting Regarding the Creation of an EPA Alumni Association

An ad hoc group of ex-EPA employees met on June 10, 2008 at the invitation of Chuck Elkins (email him) and Len Miller (email him)

This document contains the following items:

• Len and Chuck’s reactions to the meeting
• A brief summary of the meeting
• A list of Next Steps for attendees, and for additional interested alumni
• Instructions for listening to a recording of the June 10^th Meeting.

Len and Chuck’s Introductory Comments

We are very pleased that there was so much interest expressed. As expected, getting together a group of old EPAers led to a number of interesting suggestions and at times some differences of opinion. That is not only to be expected; it is the wonderful thing about being part of a group of people still enthusiastic and still ready to suggest ideas and propose differing ways to approach the same organization.

We appreciate all thecomments and want to ask you to continue to provide us - and each other - with ideas, suggestions and advice. For the time being, we want to focus on the idea of community. We see this organization as bringing together people who were active in a governmental agency, and an environmental movement, which still resonates with our children and our grandchildren. At the meeting, we all got to meet people we knew way back when, or who we had heard of but never met, but we all had an instant connection, and after a few minutes it was like being back at the Agency debating and arguing the direction of the environmental regulations or the priorities of scientific research.

Most people strive to be part of something larger than themselves, and, no matter your philosophical or ideological or religious views, we were all part of EPA, for better or for worse. This first meeting was exciting and nostalgic, looking forward and looking backward, focusing on education or data exchange or recognition of outstanding contributions - or just plain getting together after all these years.

Enough of the sappy stuff, read the Summary of the meeting and the Next Steps and give us your thoughts and your suggestions, and please consider volunteering to help us bring this organization into being. Feel free to pass this document along to other EPA alumni who might be interested in either joining the Organization Committee (see below) or later becoming a member of the Association, once the Association is formed.

Brief Summary of the Meeting

An ad hoc group of EPA alumni gathered in person and by phone on June 10^th. Attendees were “chosen” almost at random and others heard about the meeting and volunteered their presence. There was much agreement that many others could have been invited and would have been interested, and that we should all spread the word.

Those alumni at the meeting expressed strong enthusiasm for the creation of an EPA Alumni Association. The group reviewed various possible functions for such an Association, but a consensus evolved that the association should start with some core functions and expand, if the members so desire, at some point in the future. The core functions were identified as:

1. A Directory of Alumni available to members to inform them about where their old colleagues are, and to facilitate any voluntary communication, interaction, or collaboration among them as they see fit.
2. A source of current information about members and EPA, such as would normally be delivered by a “newsletter.” However, it was suggested that an interactive website might be an alternative means of delivery of this information and might be less labor-intensive. In other words, the website might be designed to allow members to write this “newsletter” to and for each other, so to speak. Several models can be found on websites today, such as a “Wikipedia”, a listserve, a discussion forum, etc. This website could also facilitate other functions in the future.
   
   The core concept for the organization that seemed to be accepted by the ad hoc group was one of “creation of a community.” There also seemed to be general agreement that any lobbying or taking of positions as an organization should be avoided altogether or be severely limited.
   
   There appeared to be a general consensus (although not unanimous agreement) that membership should be open to anyone who had been an employee of EPA . However, because there is no apparent master list of alumni, recruitment of membership should proceed primarily through sharing of contact information of alumni who might be interested in joining, rather than through some general solicitation. However, announcement of the existence of the organization could be done at conferences/meetings where large numbers of alumni might be present, such as at the annual Environmental Law Institute dinners and meetings of the Air and Waste Management Association.
   
   In the meantime, an Organizing Committee would be formed, co-chaired by Len Miller and Chuck Elkins, to carry out the tasks of starting up the organization. The Organizing Committee’s functions would include possible subcommittee work and serving as a sounding board for the organizing documents and draft policies and procedures as well as the website. Much of this activity is planned for this summer. Andrew Otis of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosie LLP in New York volunteered pro bono assistance in drafting of these legal papers, and those consultations have now already begun.
   
   There was also a discussion of the fact that there could be substantial startup costs. After the organization is up and running, we can expect the organization to be maintained by modest dues (perhaps $25/year after the first year). However, in the short run, the startup costs need to be covered. It was suggested and agreed to that pledges should be solicited in the following categories:
• Supporting Member: $100
• Charter Member: $250, and
• Founding Member: $1000

Several people at the meeting volunteered a pledge, and hopefully there will be many more. Once the 501(c)(3) application is submitted, the persons who have made pledges will be asked to make their promised contributions, and these contributions will then be deductible from Federal Income Tax.

Next Steps

Several next steps were agreed to that affect both the attendees at the ad hoc meeting and other alumni:

1. Persons who would like to serve on the Organizing Committee should identify themselves to Chuck Elkins (email him) or Len Miller (email him). It is presumed that most of the people who attended the initial meeting will want to serve, but a confirmation of this would be appreciated. Additional volunteers are very welcome.
2. Everyone who feels able to make a startup contribution to help defray the costs of bringing this organization into being should send their pledges to either Chuck or Len via email.
3. Everyone is encouraged to start identifying and contacting prospective members as well as people who may be interested in serving on the Organizing Committee. At a minimum, send contact information to the following special address: (email address) This contact information will feed the database from which we can send out broad scale announcements to invite people to join or keep people informed of progress during this organizing period. This contact information will not be distributed to members or posted on the website. Any information in the planned future Directory of Members (see above) will be restricted to information voluntarily submitted by the alumnus in question, subject to full notification of how the information will be used or made available to others. Consequently, it is not necessary to you to ask permission of these prospective members before providing their email or physical addresses that will be used only for initial communications during the organizing effort.
4. Len and Chuck were authorized to oversee the drafting of incorporation papers, by-laws, and the 501(c)(3) application and to circulate them to the Organizing Committee for vetting. Hopefully, all this will be accomplished this summer.

Recording of the June 10^th Meeting

Anyone who would like to listen to the recording of the ad hoc meeting, can contact the webmaster.

The availability of this recording will also allow those who were not at the meeting to hear many of the nuances of the discussion that this brief summary necessarily glosses over. This recording is will be available from the conference call company until July 9^th.

If you have questions, comments, interests, suggestions, or criticisms, please be in touch with either Len or Chuck.

Thanks for your help,

Len & Chuck