FederalDaily - December 28, 2007

EPA Directed to Reopen Libraries

The omnibus appropriations bill signed this week by President Bush orders the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reopen many of the libraries that it had closed over the past year, and earmarks $3 million for that purpose. EPA began dismantling its network of technical and research libraries beginning in 2006, closing regional libraries serving 23 states and its headquarters library in Washington, D.C, as well as reducing services and hours in libraries covering another 14 states, according to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). “The EPA libraries are not only important to the public but are invaluable tools for the agency’s own scientists and specialists,” said PEER Associate Director Carol Goldberg. EPA officials had said that the closings did not affect access to key environmental and scientific collections because online services met researcher and staff needs—a contention disputed by many scientists, staff and librarians. “The EPA libraries are a vital resource for the health of our country,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the Washington, D.C., office of the American Library Association, “and we appreciate the work of Congress, and in particular the Senate, to correct this massive failure on the part of the executive branch.” For more go to: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=964.

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SSA Opens Remote Hearing Center to Address Disability Backlog

The Social Security Administration (SSA) last week announced the opening of a new National Hearing Center (NHC) that will use remote video technology to address part of the agency’s huge backlog of disability cases. SSA’s chief administrative law judge (ALJ) presided over the center’s first hearing from the NHC in Falls Church, Va., via a videoconference with a claimant located in a hearing office in Cleveland, Ohio. “The National Hearing Center allows us to capitalize on new technologies such as electronic disability folders and video teleconferencing,” said SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. “The center will give us needed flexibility to address the country’s worst backlogs.” Initially, seven ALJs assigned to the NHC will hear cases from the Atlanta, Cleveland and Detroit hearing offices, where the wait for a hearing can be two years or more. SSA said more ALJs may be added later to assist with other offices. There currently are about 750,000 cases awaiting a hearing, more than double the number a decade ago, SSA said. For more, go to: http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/natl-hearing-center-pr.htm.

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DOE Finalizes Regs to Boost Energy Efficiency in New Federal Buildings

The Department of Energy (DOE) this month announced it had finalized regulations to require new federal buildings to achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency than required by prevailing building codes. The new standards, mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, apply to new federal commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings, as well as new federal low-rise residential buildings designed for construction that began on or after Jan. 3, 2007. DOE said the standards also are 40 percent more efficient than requirements in the current Code of Federal Regulations. Monetary savings over the next 10 years are estimated at $776 million (in 2004 dollars), and energy savings at more than 40 trillion British thermal units, the agency said. For more, go to: http://www.energy.gov/news/5790.htm.

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