Two years after the U.S. EPA hastily dismantled one-third of its libraries, Congress has ordered the agency to restore the original library network. With no plan from EPA to reconsolidate holdings dispersed across the country, and in some cases destroyed, close observers of the libraries fear that restoration could be incomplete.
The congressional orders appear on page 35 of a statement (PDF: 2.5 MB) attached to the fiscal year 2008 (FY '08) budget (H.R. 2764) enacted on December 26, 2007. The statement allocates $1 million above the FY '08 EPA budget request, specifically to reopen libraries recently closed or consolidated by the Bush Administration.
