The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has performed an about-face on its plan to close numerous libraries run by the agency. EPA has closed five regional libraries but has announced that the agency will not close any of its remaining 22 libraries until it can present its plan to Congress.

The EPA began closing several libraries and destroying or recycling large amounts of paper data this fall in response to a proposed $2.5 million cut in the budget for the library system. The agency has already closed libraries in Chicago, Washington DC, Dallas and Kansas City and limited public access in four others.

On Nov. 30, 2006, shortly after the elections that placed Congress in Democratic control, four Representatives wrote to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson expressing serious concerns about the library closures. In their letter, Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), Bart Gordon (D-TN), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN), requested that "destruction or disposition of all library holdings be immediately ceased."

EPA officials have assured the lawmakers that plans to close additional libraries have been placed on hold pending congressional review. The agency has defended its plan with explanations that the closures are part of a modernization effort to digitize information and make it available online. Critics counter that digitization efforts are limited and much information will be lost. Scientists have vehemently opposed the library closures, saying much of the information being locked in storage or destroyed isn’t yet and may never be available online.

The critics are supported by findings in a recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In the report entitled Restructuring EPA's Libraries the CRS notes that within EPA’s plans "which materials will be retained, dispersed, or discarded, and the amount of time and funding needed to complete this [restructuring] process, are uncertain."

Another letter from House Democrats, dated Sept. 19, 2006, has initiated a formal investigation of the EPA library closures by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The letter, signed by Waxman, Gordon, and Dingell, asked GAO to investigate several specific issues, including the impact the closures will have on services, the process and criteria EPA used to develop its plan, and if the public and other users of the libraries had the opportunity to provide input on the plan. The eventual GAO report on EPA's activities may shed more light on the areas of concern to lawmakers.