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EPA Libraries Still Disposing and Dispersing MaterialsAccording to an Environmental Protection Agency procedural document issued April 9, the agency is still requiring its libraries to “disperse or dispose of their library contents when appropriate,” despite a February 6 commitment from EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson during Senate hearings to a moratorium on further library closings and discarding of holdings. Another April 9 document, from the EPA’s own Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), expresses concerns about the agency’s effectiveness in prosecuting polluters if data and documents are dispersed outside the EPA to other libraries.The documents were disclosed May 2 by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals that has repeatedly expressed concern over the EPA’s downsizing of its libraries. “EPA is determined to leap before it looks as it barrels ahead to shut libraries,” said PEER Associate Director Carol Goldberg, who noted that nearly one-third of the agency’s 27 libraries have either closed or had services reduced. “EPA has declared war on libraries and the services they provide without offering an adequate substitute.” The procedural document predates an April 26 letter written to Johnson by four House committee chairmen requesting an update on EPA library activities. Signed by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), John Dingell (D-Mich.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), and Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), the letter requested a May 4 response to specific questions about the status of EPA libraries and its plans for digitization of agency materials. The procedural document, which refers to itself as an “interim policy,” specifies the types of materials EPA libraries should keep, disperse to EPA repository libraries, donate and disperse to non-EPA libraries, or recycle. It does contain a cautionary note: “Although it may be tempting to dispose of library materials quickly, the loss of important and unique materials could have serious future consequences if the Agency cannot document scientific findings or enforcement actions.” The OECA document listed concerns about access to dispersed EPA materials, the accessibility of digitized information, the timeliness of responses to document requests needed by litigators, the reliability of interlibrary loans, and associated costs not taken into consideration by the agency. Posted May 4, 2007. |
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