Tag: libraries

Report: Epa Limiting Info Access

A government watchdog group says the Environmental
Protection Agency might be limiting the public’s access to
information. Rebecca Williams reports that could hurt future
research on health and safety:

Transcript

A government watchdog group says the Environmental
Protection Agency might be limiting the public’s access to
information. Rebecca Williams reports that could hurt future
research on health and safety:

The EPA has been closing several of its research libraries. The agency
started doing that two years ago to save money. The libraries have
information on chemical safety, Superfund sites, and all kinds of other
health and safety data.

The Government Accountability Office says the EPA cut corners… and acted
too quickly.

The GAO reports the EPA closed the libraries without consulting outside
experts.

The report says the EPA closed its Chemical Library without notifying EPA
staff or the public. EPA scientists used the library to review industry
requests before new chemicals could be put on the market.

Congress has directed the EPA to re-open the libraries. The EPA hasn’t
reopened them yet. But the agency says it’s reviewing its library plans.

For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Budget Cuts to Close Epa Libraries?

An environmental watchdog group is criticizing President Bush’s proposal to slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s library system. The GLRC’s Sarah Hulett reports:

Transcript

An environmental watchdog group is criticizing President Bush’s
proposal to slash funding for the Environmental Protection
Agency’s library system. The GLRC’s Sarah Hulett reports:


The proposed budget would cut two million of the two-and-a-half
million dollars that pays for EPA’s libraries and reading rooms.


Internal EPA memos suggest the cuts could close EPA’s main
library and some of its regional libraries, and shut down the
system’s electronic catalog.


Jeff Ruch is with Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility. He says the proposed cuts threaten an invaluable
resource the serves government scientists and the public.


“And so for reports on particular sites – like for example:
contaminated sites or Superfund sites – they’re the only place in
the world where you can get some of the detailed investigations
that have been done.”


An EPA spokeswoman says the agency plans to make its physical
collections more widely available online, but it’s not clear how the
agency will pay for digitizing the documents.


For the GLRC, I’m Sarah Hulett.

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