When federal agencies are created, one assumes that the documents produced by them will be freely available to any interested party. This access fosters the belief in an open government that is important for the health and welfare of the nation. Unfortunately, the budget axe falls frequently in these agencies, creating a crisis for access to critical information needed by judges, attorneys and the general public.
The Environmental Protection Agency, created in 1971, is facing just such a budget crisis this year. The proposed FY-2007 appropriation for the agency includes an 80 percent cut in funding for its EPA libraries. The result of these cuts will be the probable closure of the Midwest Region 5 library in Chicago, which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The EPA library network provides access to thousands of electronic and paper documents that are unavailable elsewhere. The program offers a wide range of information on environmental protection and management, basic sciences such as biology and chemistry, applied sciences such as engineering and toxicology, and topics featured in legislative mandates, such as hazardous waste, drinking water, pollution prevention and toxic substances.
The EPA operates a network of 28 libraries from its Washington, D.C. headquarters and 10 regional offices nationwide, including one in Seattle. Combined holdings include more than half a million books and reports, 3,500 journal titles, 25,000 maps and 3.6 million items on microfilm. Last year, EPA libraries handled more than 134,000 research requests and catalogued about 50,000 unique documents.
The agency will attempt to digitize as many documents as possible, as most EPA documents prior to 1990 are solely in print format. "By putting its research collections into indefinite storage, EPA might as well start burning books because these works are not likely to see the light of day again," stated Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), noting that the agency has allocated no money for moving collections to other libraries or digitizing the holdings so that they would be available online. "The loss of access to this research will remove potentially key information from the hands of researchers, inspectors and decision-makers."1
While you may not be able to stop the cuts to the EPA libraries, you can access the electronic EPA documents at the King County Law Library through our Westlaw plan. These administrative materials can be helpful when sifting through difficult government documents. Keyword searching will allow you to pinpoint the documents you need. If you have questions on how to search for these materials, don't hesitate to ask one of our reference librarians by calling us at 206-296-0940 for further details on all of the state and federal administrative materials available at the library.
Marcus Hochstetler is the King County Law Librarian. Please direct comments or questions to him at 206-296-0940 or marcus.hochstetler@metrokc.gov.
1 EPA Closing its Midwest Library, Press Release, Public Employees for Environmental Responsiblity, March 16, 2006, http://www.peer.org/news_id.php?row_id=660.
