Four House Democrats who serve as ranking committee members have signed a letter asking the Environmental Protection Agency to stop its planned library closures.
U.S. Reps. John Dingell, D-Mich.; Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; James Oberstar, D-Minn., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wrote a letter dated Nov. 30 to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson expressing concerns about plans to close EPA libraries across the country and the destruction of many documents.
The representatives wrote that Congress had not approved the library closure plan and wanted a chance to review it. "We request that you maintain the status quo of the libraries and their materials while this issue is under investigation and review by Congress," they wrote.
The letter outlines their fear the agency could lose or destroy a "vast and invaluable trove of public health and environmental information."
The congressmen´s letter follows a similar effort by 16 senators last month. The senators, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., asked the Senate Appropriations Committee to direct the EPA to keep its libraries open to the public and agency employees.
The EPA outlined a plan in August that calls for closing libraries at the agency´s Washington headquarters and at regional offices across the country as a cost-saving measure and because of new security measures that restrict public access. The agency announced plans to digitalize most of the documents and make information available online.
However, critics contend only a portion of the information would be made available in electronic form and that much information would be lost.
Dingell is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Gordon is the ranking member of the Science Committee, Oberstar is the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Waxman is the ranking member of the Government Reform Committee.
The EPA´s plan is available online at www.epa.gov/natlibra/index.html,
under the link for "National Framework for the Headquarters and Regional
Libraries."
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