EPA ordered to reopen libraries
Congress gives EPA an extra $1 million and strict orders to restore the agency's full network of libraries.
Two years after the U.S. EPA hastily dismantled one-third of its libraries, Congress has ordered the agency to restore the original library network. With no plan from EPA to reconsolidate holdings dispersed across the country, and in some cases destroyed, close observers of the libraries fear that restoration could be incomplete.
The congressional orders appear on page 35 of a statement (PDF: 2.5 MB) attached to the fiscal year 2008 (FY '08) budget (H.R. 2764) enacted on December 26, 2007. The statement allocates $1 million above the FY '08 EPA budget request, specifically to reopen libraries recently closed or consolidated by the Bush Administration.
In early 2006, EPA decided to cut its library budget by $2 million, and by October that year, it had closed or restricted access to one-third of its 27 libraries, according to a Congressional Research Service report (PDF: 75 KB).
EPA promised better service and cost savings from digitizing the collection and making it available via the National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS). However, EPA librarians have complained that they can't find items on NEPIS, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a watchdog group. And the savings don't compensate for the amount of assistance provided by full-service librarians, which saves EPA staff time worth $7.5 million per year, says an internal EPA report.
Public pressure forced EPA to place a moratorium on library closures in December 2006.
"I think that the big concern is that it's not clear whether EPA intends to follow the congressional directive to restore the libraries," says Joe Davis, editor of the Society of Environmental Journalists' WatchDog newsletter.
"While the intervention of Congress is most welcome, it comes after several closures and much disruption, leaving the remaining EPA librarians with the task of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again," said PEER Associate Director Carol Goldberg.
The Government Accountability Office is due to submit a critique of EPA's library closure and digitization scheme by the end of February. Meanwhile, the 2008 budget statement directs EPA to submit a report within 90 days to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, describing how it plans to restore the libraries.
