[A2k] UCS: EPA Closing, Destroying Libraries

[Seth Johnson]

Whatever the facts actually are here, I think it's still pretty
important:

Seth



> http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures


The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun closing its
nationwide network of scientific libraries, effectively
preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing vast
amounts of data and information on issues from toxicology to
pollution. Several libraries have already been dismantled, with
their contents either destroyed or shipped to repositories where
they are uncataloged and inaccessible.

The scientific information contained in the EPA libraries is
essential to the agency's ability to make fully informed
decisions that carry out its mission of protecting human health
and the environment. Members of Congress have asked the EPA to
cease and desist. Please call EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
at (202) 564-4700 either today, December 1, or Monday, December
4, and tell him how much scientists rely on data and literature.
Urge him to immediately halt the dismantling of the library
system until Congress approves the EPA budget and all materials
are readily available online.

Update, 12:40p.m. EST 12/1: Calls are already flooding in and
we've received reports that the EPA office is denying closing the
libraries. However, ample evidence exists that this is indeed
happening; click on "tell me more" below to find detailed
sources. Your message can still be clear: The EPA should not
close its valuable science libraries.

Tell me more:
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures/explanation

---

> http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_Closures/explanation


What's At Stake?

The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a nationwide
network of 27 libraries that provide critical scientific
information on human health and environmental protection, not
only to EPA scientists, but also to other researchers and the
general public. The EPA libraries are located in each of 10
regions of the country, at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
and at various EPA laboratories specializing in certain aspects
of environmental protection.

In order to fulfill its mission to protect human health and the
environment, the EPA must rely on accurate, up-to-date scientific
information as well as the findings of earlier studies. To make
the best scientific determinations, scientists need access to
information regarding the health effects of toxic substances,
records of environmental change over time, impacts on specific
regions or communities and other issues. To this end, the
libraries represent a unique and invaluable source of scientific
knowledge on issues from hazardous waste to toxicology to
pollution control. Additional benefit to scientific researchers
is gained from the expertise of a dedicated library staff, who
field more than 140,000 database and reference questions per year
from EPA scientists and the public.

In February 2006 under the guise of cutting costs, the Bush
Administration proposed cutting $2 million out of the $2.5
million library services budget for fiscal year 2007. Such a
drastic cut would ensure the closing of most of the library
network, but would hardly register as a cost savings against the
$8 billion EPA budget.

Despite the fact that Congress has not yet passed the 2007 budget
or approved these funding cuts, the EPA has already moved with
astonishing speed to close down several of its libraries to both
the public and EPA staff. Three regional libraries, the
Headquarters Library and a specialized library for research on
the effects and properties of chemicals have already been closed,
and four additional regional libraries have been subjected to
reduced hours and limited access. Some books, reports and other
resources formerly housed at these libraries have been sent to
three repositories where they remain uncatalogued and
inaccessible to the scientists and others who depend upon them.
Other materials have already been recycled or thrown away.

While administration officials claim the changes are prompted by
budgetary pressures, the existence of a dedicated library system
has been shown to actually save money. A 2004 internal EPA report
found that the library network saved over 214,000 hours a year in
staff time, amounting to cost-savings of $7.5
million=97considerably more than the savings gained from cutting
the program.

Officials claim the closings are part of a modernization plan,
and that all materials will eventually be available online.
However, no comprehensive assessment of information needs has
been undertaken=97making it likely that some unique information
will be lost=97and no funding exists to carry out the
time-consuming and expensive process of making documents
available electronically. The end result is that the library
resources are already unavailable and the promised electronic
access could be years away.

Many scientists and lawmakers have spoken out in protest of these
library closures.  Four unions representing 10,000 EPA scientists
sent a letter asking Congress to stop the destruction of the
library network. A letter from Representatives Henry Waxman
(D-CA), Bart Gordon (D-TN) and John Dingell (D-MI) has prompted
an investigation of the library system by the General
Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. And
members of both the House and Senate have called upon
Administrator Johnson to cease and desist with the closures until
the investigation is complete and Congress has authorized action;
the House letter calls for a response from the administrator by
Monday, December 4, 2006.

The closure of these libraries and the warehousing of their
resources represents an additional barrier to the free flow of
scientific information. The EPA will not have the best
information readily available when it makes regulatory decisions,
negatively impacting the agency's ability to carry out its
mission of protecting human health and the environment.

Are the Libraries Really Closing?

As of 12:40 p.m. on 12/1, the EPA Administrator's office was
denying that libraries had been closed. In addition to the
congressional letters cited above, we have ample evidence that
this is indeed the case.

On the EPA=92s own library website, the five libraries that have
been closed to date have been removed from the list and had their
websites partially or completely shut down: the Headquarters
Library, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7, and the Office of
Prevention, Pollution, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS). The EPA
libraries website links to a plan of action for closing many
libraries and dispersing or disposing of materials. We also have
first-hand accounts from EPA employees that the libraries have
been closed.

Also, several newspapers have reported or editorialized about the
library closures, including:

    * Christian Science Monitor, 11/30/06: "As EPA Libraries go
Digital, Public Access Suffers"

    * Boston Globe editorial, 11/20/06: "Save the Earth's
Libraries"

    * Arizona Star, 11/05/06: "EPA Libraries Taking Big Hits:
They're closed or curtailed to cut costs, agency says; critics
skeptical"

Additional information is provided by the American Library
Association and Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility.

These are large agencies; it is not uncommon for an agency to go
into complete denial when confronted with questions such as the
ones we are asking.  However, this only underscores the
importance of putting the administrator=92s office on notice that
we are watching and will hold them accountable.