nity meeting the deadlines called for in source compliance schedules? Does the control agency have adequate funds and staff? Are all aspects of the control strategy working? Are polluters cooperating? What problems are not yet being tackled? When can the public expect the air in your community to be cleaner?

Tell it like it is, the good and the bad. Use the State implementation plan as a checklist against which to measure progress.

2. The program should be a balanced presentation of the problem. Your organization might "host" the broadcast, but include spokesmen for the control agency and for polluters.

3. The program should give the listening or viewing public a chance to participate. This can be done by providing time for questions from the audience, if there is one, or by having people phone in and ask questions.

4. The program should be as concise and entertaining as possible. Avoid long speeches, monologues and lectures. Avoid formal debates.

5. The program should move at a brisk pace. A 30-minute presentation is most desirable.

6. The program should suggest specific things people can do to help. For instance: A telephone number to call (your group's or the control agency's or both) to report a suspected air pollution violation; tips on how to conserve electricity, thereby helping to reduce power plant pollution; time and place of important public hearings to attend; names and addresses of public officials to write to on pending decisions, bills, appropriations, etc., related to air pollution control; information on what to do in the event of an air pollution episode.

7. While you might consider the program "your show," the broadcasting station is responsible for what goes on the air. Make suggestions, of course, but respect the rights and responsibilities and the professional experience of the station's staff.

8. A television program needs visual

material. Try to include films and still photographs in order to reach the viewer through his eyes and ears.

9. The program should relate air pollution to people. Without scaring people into a sense of futility and hopelessness, present the effects of air pollution on health to dramatize the importance of action for cleaner air.

10. The program should be credible. Participants should know what they're talking about. If someone doesn't know the answer to a question, he or she should say so—and get it for the next program.

11. The program should be broadened to include other environmental issues, if your group is equipped to do it. Try to talk a station into periodic coverage to discuss water pollution, solid waste disposal, noise, radiation, pesticides, recreation, open space, transportation, land-use planning and zoning, wildlife, population control, water supply these, along with air pollution, are parts of the total condition of the environment in your community.

Some radio and television stations may prefer a periodic appraisal of the community's environment, a sort of monthly reading of the environmental quality index. If your group is not prepared to provide expertise beyond air pollution problems, work with other citizen organizations that know those fields. You may want to involve other citizen groups anyway, to widen the base and appeal of your proposed radio or television programs.

This outline only skims the surface, of course. The possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of those developing the program. As many citizen organizations do, your group should seek all possible assistance from members or sympathetic outsiders who are professional communicators.

Public hearings

Another way to communicate with the public is to testify at public hearings. Your objectives should be twofold: (1) to get your views before the control agency or legislative body hold

ing the hearing; (2) to air your views through the press and broadcast media.

The following suggestions are based on the experiences of many citizen organizations that have been through the earlier stages of the fight for clean air. Your group may be one of them, but you may, nevertheless, find these suggestions helpful:

Before The Hearing

1. Prepare a typewritten statement and make copies.

2. Prepare a press release and deliver it at least the day before the hearing, with a copy of your statement. Be sure both the release and the statement are marked "Advance Copy-Not For Release Until... ." (Insert date and time when you expect to present the statement.)

3. If possible, deliver the release and statement to your press contacts personally. If you can't do so, call and tell them the release and statement are on the way. Don't waste reporters' time discussing or reading the release or statement on the phone unless they ask you to.

This advance press work does several things: it reminds the press that the hearing is coming up; it shows your press contacts that you've thought of them, even though they know you want coverage; and, if they cannot cover the hearing, at least they have your statement.

At The Hearing

1. Have a prepared typewritten statement, with enough copies for each member of the committee or board or commission conducting the hearing, plus extras for their files, and have more copies for the press along with your press release.

2. Be brief. Speak no more than four or five minutes, but ask to have your full statement included in the hearing record.

3. Begin with your name, address, title or group affiliation, and cite other groups, if any, that support your position and have asked you to say so.

4. Tell why you support, or oppose,

:

the subject under consideration. Give facts to support your position. Don't make accusations you cannot support.

5. If appropriate, explain how the public interest is affected, who will benefit and how much it will cost.

6. If your group has several spokesmen, make sure to avoid repetition unless emphasis is desired. Have each speaker cover a different point, or approach the problem from a different aspect.

7. Speak clearly-loudly enough to be heard, slowly enough to be understood, but quickly enough to keep the listeners' attention.

8. Be prepared to answer questions -to explain your position, to explain the purpose of your group, to explain how your group's position was reached (executive board vote, membership meeting vote, mail referendum, etc.). If you don't know the answer to a question, say so, and offer to try to get the answer and send it in for the record. On rare occasions, a committee or board member may be hostile and attempt to rattle, confuse, irritate or intimidate you. Don't let yourself get confused, angry or nasty. Keep your cool.

9. Try to have as many supporters as possible attend the hearing. Casually mention their presence in your opening comments. Some call this "packing a hearing." Others call it "showing strength and support." Numbers reinforce your stand. An indication of support can sway legislators as well as public opinion.

10. Listen carefully to other statements presented, especially by the opposition. Make note of factual errors or new ideas or proposals, for you may be asked to comment on what other witnesses say. If so, don't attack the opposition or make personal remarks.

11. Respect the right of others to disagree with you. Do not applaud or show disapproval of any speaker.

12. If you have written statements of community leaders, other organizations, etc., who support your position but ⚫ could not attend the hearing, ask that

the statements be included in the hearing record.

13. Thank the committee for giving you the opportunity to testify.

After The Hearing

1. Promptly prepare and submit answers to any questions you were asked but could not answer at the hearing. If you think any statements made by the opposition were factually incorrect or need rebuttal, prepare and submit a supplementary statement for the record. But don't rehash what you said in your original statement.

2. If your press contacts wrote or broadcast stories containing your views,

phone them and thank them for the coverage.

3. Don't complain to the press if your views weren't included in their coverage or if you think the coverage was bad or that you were misquoted.

4. A few days after the hearing, send a letter to the newspaper editor for publication referring to the hearing and pointing out what, if anything, the public can do to help.

5. Let your own members know what happened at the hearing through your organization's newsletter or by a special letter to all members and include copies of press clippings, if any.

If you have read this far, you know that these guidelines add up to hard work for every member of your organization. But hard work is precisely what's needed if the goals of the Clean Air Act are to be achieved.

Government at all levels and industry have clear responsibilities to meet if your community is to achieve cleaner air, and if our Nation is to carry out its first truly comprehensive environmental improvement program. But the role of citizen organizations-what might be I called the third force for action-must also be fully recognized. Government and industry are responsive to the will of the people. And your citizen organization and others like it emphasize the people's will to have cleaner air.

The Clean Air Act and other recent environmental laws reflect growing awareness of the vital role of citizen organizations in achieving national goals. And those laws give citizen organizations unprecedented rights and tools to pursue those goals.

Use them, for as President Nixon has said: "In the final analysis, the foundation on which environmental progress rests in our society is a responsible and informed citizenry. My confidence that our Nation will meet its environmental problems in the years ahead is based in large measure on my faith in the continued vigilance of American public opinion and in the continued vitality of citizen efforts to protect and improve the environment."

APPENDIX A

National Air Quality Standards

SULFUR OXIDES-Sulfur oxides come primarily from the combustion of sulfurcontaining fossil fuels. Their presence has been associated with the increased incidence of respiratory diseases, increased death rates and property damage. Primary Standard

80 micrograms per cubic meter (0.03 ppm) annual arithmetic mean.

365 micrograms per cubic meter (0.14 ppm) as a maximum 24-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year. Secondary Standard

⚫ 60 micrograms per cubic meter (0.02 ppm) annual arithmetic mean.

⚫ 260 micrograms per cubic meter (0.1 ppm) maximum 24-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

1,300 micrograms per cubic meter (0.5 ppm) as a maximum three-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

⚫ 75 micrograms per cubic meter annual geometric mean.

⚫ 260 micrograms per cubic meter as a maximum 24-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year. Secondary Standard

60 mircrograms per cubic meter annual geometric mean.

• 150 micrograms per cubic meter as a maximum 24-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

CARBON MONOXIDE-Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of the incomplete burning of carbon-containing fuels and of some industrial processes. It decreases the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood and, at levels often found in city air, may impair mental processes. Primary and Secondary Standards

• 10 milligrams per cubic meter (9 ppm) as a maximum eight-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

40 milligrams per cubic meter (35 ppm) as a maximum one-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

Both the one-hour limit and the eight-hour standard afford protection against the occurrence of carboxy-hemoglobin levels in the blood of 2 per cent. Carboxy-hemoglobin levels above 5 per cent have been associated with physiological stress in patients with heart disease. Blood carboxy-hemoglobin levels ap. proaching 2 per cent have been associated by some researchers with impaired psychomotor responses.

PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS-Photochemical oxidants are produced in the atmosphere when reactive organic substances, chiefly hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides are exposed to sunlight. Photochemical oxidants irritate mucous membranes, reduce resistance to respiratory infection, damage plants and contribute to the deterioration of materials. Primary and Secondary Standards

⚫ 160 micrograms per cubic meter (0.08 ppm) as a maximum one-hour concentration not to be exceeded more than once a year.

HYDROCARBONS-Hydrocarbons in the air come mainly from the processing, marketing and use of petroleum products. Some of the hydrocarbons combine with nitrogen oxides in the air to form photochemical oxidants. The hydrocarbons standards, therefore, are for use as a guide in devising implementation plans to achieve the oxidant standards. Primary and Secondary Standards

160 micrograms per cubic meter (0.24 ppm) as a maximum three-hour concentration (6 to 9 a.m.) not to be exceeded more than once a year.