The Underground Storage Tank Program's Early Management Challenges

Description of the successful first time application of the private sector's "Total Quality Management"  principles to a federal government program.

Audio Track - Chapter 2 - 16 minutes

Ron Brand was the first director of EPA's Underground Storage Tank program, starting in 1985. That office faced the challenge of two milllion tanks and 750,000 owners, but had only 90 staff, 45 at Headquarters and 45 in the regions, to deal with the problem of leaks in many of those tanks. Ron and his team implemented several management techniques to this dilemma that were unique within EPA: a franchisizing approach drawn from the private sector and Total Quality Management. In this interview Ron tells interviewer Helga Butler about how these technicques worked and didn't work, their acceptance in Headquarters, the regions, the states, and out in the field, and describes parameters that might determine whether these techniques have utility in similar challenges that EPA and similar organizations face today.

In this Chapter 2, Ron describes how the private sector's "Total Quality Management" was applied successfully to the Underground Storage Tank Program.

Biographical Material: Ron Brand served as Director of the Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1985 to 1991.

Prior to his OUST experience, Ron led the EPA Program Evaluation Division and served as an Assistant to the Deputy Administrator, focusing on management and financial issues affecting program performance. His earlier experience included service in a variety of management positions in programs of what is now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

After retiring from EPA, Ron co-authored a book titled, “Total Quality Management in Government: A practical guide for the real world”, 1993, Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Ron inow lives in Richmond, VA

THE INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS

The individual "chapters" of the discussion are available for viewing individually as is the complete interview (48 minutes).

Chapter 1: A New Approach to a Large Mission but a Small Budget (14 minutes)

Ron Brand describes the environmental challenges facing the new program and how they chose a franchising approach for dealing with their large management challenge.

Chapter 2: Applying "Total Quality Management" to a Federal Program. (16 minutes)

Description of the successful first time application of the private sector's "Total Quality Management"  principles to a federal government program.

Chapter 3: Running an Independent Program within a Larger Agency. (18 minutes)

How the UST program ran relatively independently plus Ron Brand's suggestions for "lessons learned."

THE INTERVIEW AS A WHOLE (48 minutes)

First Director Ron Brand describes unique ways that the new program met its environmental and management challenges.

The introduction to the interview is as follows:

Ron Brand was the first director of EPA's Underground Storage Tank program, starting in 1985. That office faced the challenge of two milllion tanks and 750,000 owners, but had only 90 staff, 45 at Headquarters and 45 in the regions, to deal with the problem of leaks in many of those tanks. Ron and his team implemented several management techniques to this dilemma that were unique within EPA: a franchisizing approach drawn from the private sector and Total Quality Management. In this interview Ron tells interviewer Helga Butler about how these technicques worked and didn't work, their acceptance in Headquarters, the regions, the states, and out in the field, and describes parameters that might determine whether these techniques have utility in similar challenges that EPA and similar organizations face today.

Biographical Material: Ron Brand served as Director of the Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1985 to 1991.

Prior to his OUST experience, Ron led the EPA Program Evaluation Division and served as an Assistant to the Deputy Administrator, focusing on management and financial issues affecting program performance. His earlier experience included service in a variety of management positions in programs of what is now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

After retiring from EPA, Ron co-authored a book titled, “Total Quality Management in Government: A practical guide for the real world”, 1993, Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Ron inow lives in Richmond, VA.

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