MEMORANDUM

TO:       OTAG Outreach and Communications Subgroup Members

FROM:     Ned Sullivan, Co-Chair, Deb Garrett, Quasi-Chair 

SUBJECT:  Draft Minutes of O&C Subgroup Conference Call on July 17, 1996

DATE:     July 22, 1996

Deb Garrett opened the discussion by stating that the purpose of this conference call was to focus
on the necessary action items.  The state of Maine is entering the peak of its ozone season, she
said, and the press has started to cover the ozone issue.  The subgroup should take advantage of
this circumstance, she continued, and start to build the OTAG identity to address the issue of
ozone in the most fundamental sense not yet represented within the OTAG region.  Ms. Garrett
encouraged the participants to identify the immediate action items for the subgroup, such as
whether it should prepare boilerplate inserts for different press releases for different states, etc. 
After the immediate items are identified, she continued, the subgroup should start planning or
considering additional initiatives.

Conrad Schneider asked whether subgroup members want to convey a health advisory message--the kind that states send to the public during the ozone season--or whether they want to ensure
that news stories about summer smog include the fact that OTAG exists and was created to solve
what has become an intractable problem. 
 
Glenn Becker commented that ozone exceedances for an area are usually published in press
reports.  He suggested that seasonal updates of exceedances in areas throughout the OTAG
region be publicized in the local press to keep the public aware of why this is a regional concern
and how OTAG intends to solve this problem.

Paul Walcott (please verify--name not on list) reported that New Jersey issues ozone alerts on
an as-needed basis; other states do this as well.  He suggested that a good place to start might be
including in these alerts an explanation of the role states play within the OTAG region.He believes that a comprehensive end-of-the-season ozone assessment of the entire OTAG region
may, initially, pique the attention of the press and command a broader public interest.

Mr. Besser asked what sort of procedure should take place before OTAG could issue a press
release about a regional event.  Ms. Garrett responded by discussing the specific case where two
locations issued a press release.  In this case, a draft of basic and non-controversial statements
was sent to Bob Shinn and Mary Gade for review, prior to its release.  Up to this point, she
added, there had been no guidance about the approval process.  It was her understanding that if a
statement must be issued quickly, it can quote an individual by referring to his or her professional
capacity (for example, EPA Commissioner) rather than to his or her role as an OTAG official.  On
the other hand, she continued, an end-of-the-season report is expected to have the consensus of
all 37 states, because, in that case, there is sufficient time to get the consensus.  She believes that
one of the subgroup's tasks could be to produce a short paragraph that, with the Policy group's
approval, anyone could use as a press statement about ozone.  

Laurel Schultz added that a discussion at the last meeting focussed on distinguishing between
statements that are issued as representing an official OTAG position and those that are presented
as a particular individual's position.  A short turnaround time may require that a statement be
characterized as not necessarily reflecting a consensus within OTAG.  Mr. Besser agreed that this
is a reasonable approach that will allow a statement to be released at the opportune time without
undergoing a cumbersome approval process.

Expanding on Ms. Garrett's suggestion that the subgroup produce a short paragraph, representing
the members' unanimous opinion and to be used as a press statement, Mr. Besser recommended
the inclusion of an explanation that ozone is a regional problem affecting the entire eastern region
of the country.  Even areas that do not experience exceedances contribute to the pollution
through, for example, the combustion of fossil fuels.  OTAG is a process by which 37 states are
cooperating to determine how ozone behaves and what can be done on a regional basis to solve
this problem.  Ms. Schultz offered to share information that her organization had already issued
on the origin and purpose of OTAG.  It was agreed that Ms. Schultz would bring all this
information to the next meeting for the subgroup to discuss.

Ms. Garrett then turned the discussion to the end-of-the-season report.  Mr. Schneider
commented that there are two break points that could be potentially newsworthy.  The end-of-the-season recap is probably more newsworthy, but he suggested that the group also consider
delivering press statements at the upcoming meeting on July 24.  At this time, the preliminaries
are done, the inventories are finalized, and the tools are in place to run pollution strategies to the
model.  This means that the first part of OTAG's work is nearing completion.  The press
statement could say that OTAG is currently embarking on devising pollution control strategies. 
At the end of the ozone season, this piece of news--along with the status update--can be used
again to show that OTAG has taken on the task to solve the ozone problem.  Ms. Garrett
concurred with this idea.

In response to Mr. Schneider's suggestion, Stephanie Cooper (please verify--name not on list)
informed the group that the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) started holding lunch-time press
conferences at its meetings about 2-1/2 years ago.  This was conceived as an opportunity for the
trade press to ask particular questions about newsworthy items and alsofor the local press to speak with its individual commissioners.  The press conferences are open to
any interested OTC Commissioner, although generally the Executive Director, Chair, Vice-Chair,
and the Commissioner host the meetings.  Press conferences are scheduled during the lunch hour
so reporters can incorporate the news into stories of that particular day.  Once a statement is
released at the meeting, it is sent to all OTC states and offices to distribute their own releases;
they can also tailor the releases to their own particular state interests.

Mr. Schneider expressed his opinion that this practice has been a successful tool to inform the
trade press about OTC meetings and has also had some limited success in regional and broader
audiences.  He intimated this could be an appropriate mechanism for OTAG where Ms. Gade and
Chairs of the other subgroups could avail themselves for comments, with or without prepared
statements.  He suggested that Ned Sullivan raise this issue to Ms. Gade at the upcoming meeting
to determine what OTAG can say to the press at this point.  

Ms. Garrett asked whether it would still be useful to release statements about ozone in generic
terms if OTAG is not ready to talk about milestones at this time.  George Spencer commented
that he believes OTAG should use any opportunity to get its message to the general press; this
belief is based on what he learned from his involvement in OTC press briefings.  An enormous
amount of education is needed on a subject of such great importance to public health, even in the
absence of a benchmark for discussion.  In his opinion, Ms. Gade and Mr. Shinn have the political
experience and stature to do well with the press.

In terms of the specific items for release, Mr. Schneider suggested that the baseline news may say
that there is support to the long-held suspicion that regional NOx and local VOC control
strategies are indicated.  Mr. Spencer stated that Mike Koerber should be available to speak at a
press conference if the circumstance warrants it because he believes that Mr. Koerber has the
knowledge and the ability to make the general public understand the issue.  Ms. Schultz offered to
discuss this item with Mr. Koerber prior to the July 24 meeting.  Mr. Spencer also offered to put
the notice of press availability on various day books sold to the press; these listings inform the
press about the events of the day.

Mr. Schneider then turned the discussion to the idea of presenting basic information about OTAG
to legislators in the various states to demystify this process in Congress.  He said it would be
helpful for this information to bear the official OTAG approval, as opposed to presenting only
individual opinions.  The participants agreed that a brief description about OTAG, ECOS, and
other relationships in this process should be provided in the information packages and press
releases.

Mr. Spencer stressed the importance of having a designated individual field questions from the
press at this junction in the OTAG process.  This individual should be able to answer all ozone-related questions, such as how OTAG differs from the OTC, what OTAG intends to accomplish
and has accomplished, etc.  It was agreed that Ms. Garrett would discuss with Ms. Gade the
appropriate items for press release and the appointment of a press spokesperson.

Ms. Garrett informed the sub-group that the OTC Communications Committee would meet on
July 18, 1996, and one of the agenda items will be its relationship with the OTAG Outreach and
Communications subgroup.  This committee had produced a compendium of ozone-related and
air-issue-related publications.  Ms. Garrett said that although the key issue is thesame, OTC is already pursuing additional control strategies aggressively, while OTAG is still
doing the assessment work.  She asked the participants for their comments on how these two
communications groups can complement each other's work without duplicating efforts.  Ms.
Schultz suggested that someone from the OTC group give a brief presentation at the outreach
subgroup upcoming meeting to share ideas and to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts. 
An agreement was reached to invite Steve Majkut, Chair of the OTC group, to the meeting.

An additional pre-meeting conference call will be held on Monday, July 22, 1996, at 3 p.m., EST.