EPA Libraries Update


Copyright 2007 Inside Washington Publishers All Rights Reserved
Risk Policy Report
August 21, 2007
SECTION: Vol. 14 No. 34
LENGTH: 743 words
HEADLINE: EPA Union Says Decision Bolsters Its Position In Library Closure Talks
BODY:
In a case brought against EPA by an agency union challenging a decision to dismantle a library network widely used to research health risks and regulatory issues, union officials say they are confident about succeeding with their argument that the agency engaged in unfair labor practices in dismantling the libraries, citing an administrative law judge's recent ruling that he has enough information to decide the case without holding a formal hearing.
If they win, the union officials say, it could bolster their position in subsequent arbitration talks. Union representatives have said the libraries are essential to the agency's work and are used by program staff to research chemical health risks and environmental impacts of new technologies. The library closures impede the ability of EPA staff to access library data necessary to carry out their jobs, union officials argue.
Earlier this month Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) Administrative Law Judge Richard Pearson ruled that he would indefinitely postpone an Aug. 14 hearing on the union's complaint that the agency failed to respond to its requests to select an arbitrator for union-agency negotiations over the controversial library closures.
In June, Pearson initially called for a hearing to be held in Chicago Aug. 14 to address the union's complaint that the agency failed to respond to its requests to select an arbitrator (Risk Policy Report, July 10, p5).
But after reviewing the case Pearson changed his mind about the hearing, and in an Aug. 7 decision wrote, "It does not appear that a hearing in this case will be necessary" because he has enough information to reach a decision. Instead, he ordered the union to file a motion for summary judgment by Aug. 17.
EPA has until Aug. 31 to file any cross-motions or a motion to pursue a hearing. The decision is available on InsideEPA.com.
One union official says the decision to order summary judgment may signal an upcoming win for the union because Pearson "is going to rule on the facts of the case as they are," which the union says are in its favor.
Although EPA has subsequently selected an arbitrator to begin negotiations next month over the closures, the source says the union is still pursuing the unfair labor practice claim in the hopes of securing a win that "will get the word out to all EPA employees nationally" about the agency's failure to address union requests to appoint an arbitrator.
EPA and its union ultimately agreed June 25 to appoint George Edward Larney as arbitrator -- four months after the union filed its Feb. 5 unfair labor practice complaint with the FLRA. An FLRA ruling in favor of the union "would lend credence to our claims" in the upcoming arbitration talks that EPA did not consult with the union prior to closing libraries and did not adequately consider or address the impact that closures would have on employees, the union official says EPA last year developed a plan to close its library network and transfer huge volumes of written materials into an electronic format, partly in response to an expected $2 million cut to the Office of Environmental Information's budget in the then-pending fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill. EPA has already closed the libraries at its Dallas and Chicago offices, agency sources say.
Union officials say employees need access to EPA's libraries for research to support agency regulatory positions, to understand the science behind rulemakings, and for a host of other reasons. Several officials say they oppose the plan to restrict access to only an electronic format because there is no guarantee all existing documents will be transferred and the process for converting and making available the documents may take too long.
The union source is hoping for a favorable FLRA ruling ahead of the arbitration talks, slated to take place in Chicago beginning Sept. 25. The union pushed for Chicago as the venue for the two-day negotiations because EPA has already closed the library there and "we could bring in [regional EPA] witnesses who will talk about the impacts on employees" as a result of the closures, the source adds.
The arbitration talks, which the source describes as a "quasi-trial," are ultimately aimed at forcing EPA to negotiate over addressing the union's concerns about the impact of the closures on agency employees, and at trying to win the reopening of the Chicago and Dallas libraries.
An EPA spokeswoman did not return calls by press time.