Public Policy Connections

EPA Releases New Tool with Information about Water Pollution across the U.S.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. Developed under President Obama’s transparency initiative, the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and mapping of water pollution by local area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant. Americans can use this new tool to protect their health and the health of their communities.

Read EPA Press Release

SLA, AALL, and MLA Congratulate the EPA on the Release of the Library Network Strategic Plan

The EPA National Library Network Strategic Plan FY 2012-2014 (EPA 260-R-11-001) and the accompanying Executive Summary (EPA 260-S-11-001) have just been published. This milestone follows nine months of collaborative writing and review by the National Library Network and its internal stakeholders. The strategic plan is a roadmap for building on recent successes and strengthening EPA’s National Library Network.

SLA, AALL, and MLA officially congratulated the EPA on the release of the Library Network Strategic Plan. The associations look forward to working together with the EPA on implementing the plan, especially regarding the goal to digitize and preserve materials in the Library Network’s collections. SLA, AALL and MLA  also encourage the United States Congress to provide full funding for this program to ensure that the plan will in fact be implemented.

Read EPA National Library Network Strategic Plan FY 2012-2014

Read SLA, AALL, and MLA Statement on the Release of the EPA National Library Network Strategic Plan 2012-2014  

EPA’s National Library Network Named Federal Library/Information Center of the Year

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Library Network has been named Federal Library/Information Center of the Year by the Library of Congress. The award recognizes outstanding, innovative, and sustained achievements during fiscal year 2010 by a federal library or information center. EPA’s library network is an essential information partner with EPA staff and the public to support transparency, decision making, environmental awareness, and protection of people’s health and the environment.

In FY2010, EPA libraries worked together to digitize 7,500 agency publications, adding to the growing inventory of more than 45,000 digital documents available to the public at no cost. Serving as a point of contact for public inquiries, EPA libraries collectively addressed nearly 9,000 public reference questions and loaned more than 8,000 documents, saving taxpayers an estimated $266,000.

Read Press Release.

EPA Library Network Strategic Plan Moves Forward – Target for Publication is Late June 2011

SLA, AALL, and MLA sent a letter on April 4 expressing concerns that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yet finalized its strategic plan. According to news recently posted on the EPA Web site, there is now a target date of late June 2011 for final publication of the plan.

The EPA Web site states that work on the Library Network's strategic plan reached a significant milestone in March 2011, when EPA librarians gathered in Washington, DC to review and provide input on the first draft. The efforts built upon work from late 2010, when the Library Network convened a strategic planning workgroup of EPA librarians representing regional, repository and research libraries. The workgroup developed goals and objectives for the plan based on several factors including:

1) Gaps identified in the 2009 Library Needs Assessment
2) Concerns raised by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and
3) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats identified by the EPA library community.

The workgroup's efforts culminated in a draft-strategic plan that EPA librarians discussed extensively during their Annual Meeting, March 15-17, 2011. Once the draft has cleared EPA management review, the Library Network will share it with external stakeholders. The target date for final publication is late June 2011.

It has also been reported that the EPA has made progress in digitization. The National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) digital archive has a current inventory of 48,094 documents (as of April 1 2011). Network libraries continue to process and send materials for digitization according to a prepared schedule. The EPA has a detailed tracking system in place to enable comprehensive oversight and coordination of project progress and costs. The Library Network is currently working on Phase III of the project while finishing the few remaining documents from Phase II. Phase III digitization includes EPA documents (non-unique, more than one existing copy) from the repository libraries in Cincinnati, Research Triangle Park, and at EPA headquarters.

SLA Urges Further Hearings on GAO Report of EPA Library System Reorganization

On 4 April 2011, representatives from SLA, AALL, and MLA sent a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the U.S. Committee on Environment and Public Works,  thanking her for her continued commitment to conducting oversight of the reorganization of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) library network.

Based on the troubling findings in the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) September 2010 report (GAO-10-947), the three associations urged Chairman Boxer to further examine the implications of the reorganization of EPA’s library system.

Read Letter.

GAO Releases Report: EPA Needs to Complete a Strategy for Its Library Network to Meet Users' Needs

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released its Full Report titled "EPA Needs to Complete a Strategy for Its Library Network to Meet Users' Needs."  In summary, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) library network provides agency staff and the public with access to environmental information. A 2006 attempt by EPA to reorganize its network by consolidating libraries and making more materials and services available online caused concern among users, and in 2007, EPA put a moratorium on its reorganization plans. Congress requested that GAO report on the reorganization and has again requested a follow-up on these issues. Accordingly, GAO reviewed (1) the status of EPA's overall strategy for its library network, (2) the status of EPA's plan to reopen the libraries it closed and other actions planned or taken, (3) EPA's efforts to digitize printed documents to make them electronically available, and (4) EPA's efforts to communicate with staff and other stakeholders about its library network. GAO reviewed regulations and agency funding and inventory documents and interviewed EPA staff and contractors, as well as independent library professionals. GAO also assessed the reliability of EPA's data on library holdings and from EPA's staff survey on library use and needs.

Read more: Access PDF of Reports. 

EPA Pushing Data Out to the Public

The Obama administration has made government transparency a high priority in its early months, and of all the federal agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to be making the quickest progress in turning rhetoric into action, reported OMB Watch.

Across a range of issues, the EPA is taking proactive steps to improve transparency, collecting and releasing to the public important environmental data needed to protect the environment and public health. Much of this information is actively being pushed out to the public, whereas other releases are only made following lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.  Read full story.

New EPA Mobile Web site Provides Immediate Access to Environmental Information

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new Web site designed specifically for access via mobile phone. Services available on the EPA Mobile Web site include past and present EPA news releases, EPA contact information, environmental information, and links to other government mobile sites.

The new mobile site is one of the first government Web sites tailored specifically for cell phone users and provides media professionals with immediate access to environmental information and EPA’s media contacts from the field.

 

Read news story.

Visit EPA Mobile Web site.

Obama Letter Supports EPA Libraries

On 20 October, Barack Obama sent a letter to the National President of the American Federation of Government Employees to share his views on the importance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an Obama Administration.

The letter addresses inadequate funding for the EPA and the weakening enforcement and oversight of many environmental laws and regulations. In addition the letter states that the “…EPA was established to be the nation's leader in environmental science, research, and education – yet these are the three fields which have been damaged by politics and ideology. I strongly oppose attempts by the Bush Administration to thwart publication of EPA researchers' scientific findings, as well as the attempt to eliminate the agency's library system.”

SLA Attends EPA HQ and Chemical Libraries Open House

SLA Public Policy staff members attended the open house held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters and Chemical Libraries on 23 October 2008 in Washington, D.C. EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information and Chief Information Officer, Molly O’Neill, provided welcoming remarks and tours of the facility were provided for all in attendance.

Pictured from left to right in the photo above are: Natalie Gozzard, SLA; Doug Newcomb, SLA; Molly O'Neill, EPA; and SLA member Debbie Balsamo, EPA.

Pictured from left to right in the photo at left are: Doug Newcomb, SLA; SLA members Emma McNamara and Randy Brinkhuis, EPA; Mike Flynn, EPA; SLA member Debbie Balsamo, EPA; and Natalie Gozzard, SLA.

On 30 September, EPA reopened libraries in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City, in addition to the headquarters offices in Washington, D.C. Read SLA’s press release on the EPA library reopenings.