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.