Congress May Block EPA Cuts

Library delegation tells agency it needs digitization plan

By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 06/15/2006

The proposed 80 percent cut in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) library budget is causing Congress to take notice, especially after a recent meeting between library representatives and several EPA staff members suggested that the agency has planned far too little for the transition. A subcommittee of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has restored $5 million to the President’s budget request for EPA, including funds for libraries, said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association’s Washington Office. The issue also was raised by Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) at the recent confirmation hearing of an EPA official.

An account of the April 24 library-EPA meeting, by Mary Alice Baish of the American Association of Law Libraries, suggests that EPA is hardly prepared for the budget cut. While the agency wants to focus on digital formats, there was no acknowledgment of the substantial costs of digitizing the EPA’s legacy collection. One official said the agency planned to keep one copy of all EPA reports and make these available through ILL, which library representatives said was insufficient.

There also was little acknowledgement of the importance of access to those outside EPA, including local/state officials and the public. Closing the libraries, EPA was told, shouldn’t go forward until robust public access is available. “We don’t think that [EPA officials are] seriously trying to come up with a plan that is going to protect the unique information that they create and make it available in a way that’s accessible to the public, their own scientists, and other government officials,” Sheketoff said.