United States
                        Environmental Protection
                        Agency
                     Information Resources
                     Management
                     (3404)
December 1994/January 1995
EPA220-N-95-016
&EPA
The Catalyst
                        Information for Environmental Action
                        An Information Service for EPA HQ Staff from the Headquarters Library
        Announcing
     . A New Arrival.
          Ecosystem Protection Index (EPI)

        A new special collection in the Headquarters Library
         The Ecosystem Protection Index (EPI) is a collection of general articles about
   ecosystem protection and management  It is an attempt to identify relevant information and
   we encourage EPA staff to~ provide comments, which will be maintained with the collection.
   We also invite suggestions for additional items which might be included.
         The EPI Index, a list of articles by category, will be available on the EPA value added
   backbone system (VABS) under the heading Place Based News. Copies of the articles are
   available in the EPA Headquarters Library. EPI is designed for both scientific and
   non-scientific personnel and includes nearly 40 articles about practical applications of
   ecosystem management at the federal and local levels, specific ecosystem types, i.e.
   wetlands, and coastal and technical issues in ecosystem management. A few books and
   journals are also included. Comments and questions about EPI can be sent to Jacques
   Kapuscinski or Maisha Reed/OARM/OIRM Program Systems Division or Barbara MacKinnon
   (contractor) at the Headquarters Library (email Library-HQ).   *
                                  Library Tours
               What can the EPA Headquarters Library do for you? Regular monthly
         tours provide an overview of services and collections. To find out aboutthe
         CD-ROMs that are accessible on the LAN, others'that can be searched In the
         Library, interlibrary loan (what it: is and fiow it can ftelp you), research
         services, and special collections, come to the Library the first Wednesday of
         every month at 11:00 a.m. Tours can also be scheduled at other times for a
         group-Call the library at 202-260-5921.  *
                        EPA Headquarters Library (3404) WSM2904 202-260-5922
                                               Printed on Recycled Paper

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   Gopher Access to EPA Five-

         Year Strategic Plan

 EPA Publishes Agencywide Strategic Plan,
 also available on Agency Internet Gopher

        in July 1994, the Agency published its first-
 ever Agencywide strategic plan, 'The New
 Generation of Environmental Protection," in both
 full-length text and a summary booklet. At the
 request of Administrator Carol Browner last year,
 the Strategic Planning Task Force was
 established to oversee development of the plan,
 which was co-chaired by David Gardiner,
 Assistant Administrator, Office of Policy Planning
 and Evaluation (OPPE), and Jon Cannon,
 Assistant Administrator, Office of Administration
 and Resources Management (OARM), and
 included senior managers from all programs and
 regions, and staff support. The full text edition
 includes EPA's vision, mission, and goals, seven
 guiding principles, links to initiatives, and  program
 and regional implementation of the seven
 principles.
       The plan has been delivered to senior EPA
 managers, Public Information Centers, and to
 most EPA staff. To meet demand, a second
 printing of the plan has been ordered. In addition,
 an unformatted (ASCII) version of the strategic
 p!an is now available on the Agency's main
 Internet Gopher.  The strategic plan may be found
 at the following Gopher path:

 EPA Gopher
 EPA Initiatives, Policy and Strategy Documents/
  EPA's Rve-Year Strategic Plan/
   1. EPA's Five-Year Strategic Plan — A Summary/
   2. EPA's Rve-Year Strategic Plan — Full Document/

       Any or all sections may be read or
retrieved by anyone with Gopher access.  As the
Agency's internet capability improves, future
Internet publications of EPA planning and
management documents may contain graphical
information as well, such as maps, photos, and
charts. Questions regarding the plan may be
directed to the Strategic Planning and
Management Division of OPPE.
      This article was submitted by Jeff Morin.
        Library staff prepared the following
 instructions for accessing the Gopher and
 downloading the plan:
        To access the EPA Gopher from the EPA
 Headquarters data switch main menu, select
 "Gopher" at the first prompt. Type "wicnet," and
 select menu choice 1. The EPA Gopher main
 menu will appear.  Follow the above path to find
 the EPA Five-Year Strategic Plan.
        The  user can  either read the selected
 information on the screen, download the
 information to a computer disc or hard drive, or
 mail it to an  email box. To download information,
 follow the menu bar at the bottom of the screen.
 Select "D" to download. A menu of several
 choices will appear:
       Ymodem
       Xmodem— 1K
       Xmodem — CRC
       Kermit
       Text
       By selecting "text" the user will be able to
 download the document after turning on the
 capture function (available with the Crosstalk
 software). The next prompt will ask the user to
 prepare to download  — press the ESC key to
 activate the menu bar and then type "capture "
 a:\EPA5yr" (or another suitable file name).  The
 menu bar will change color to indicate that the
 capture function is now on.  By pressing the enter
 key, the selected document will begin scrolling. At
 the end of the document, turn the capture off by
 again pressing the ESC key to activate the menu
 bar and typing "capture off"; the document will be
 saved to a:\EPA5yr.
       To mail the document to an email address,
 while in the document select "m" to mail. A box
 will appear into which  to type the destination email
 address. Example: DOE.JOHN@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV.
      When finished viewing the EPA Gopher,
 type "q" to quit and continue to exit the
 communication software.
       If the  document was  downloaded, it can be
 retrieved into WordPerfect and the margins
 changed to "0" to make the document more
 readable.
      Shazam! Easy access to the EPA's Five-
Year Strategic Plan  and a quick introduction to
one type of information available through the EPA
Gopher.  *
                                       THE CATALYST  DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                                  PAGE 2

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     The Hazardous Waste Superfund Collection Returns!!!

      The former Hazardous Waste Superfund Collection has reopened for business and we
would like to invite you to visit us and take advantage of our services.
      The department has a new name—Hazardous Waste Superfund Information Center
(HWSIC). The staff consists of a full time librarian, Fabienne McGovern (contractor); a part
time librarian, Jill Mottorn (contractor); and an abstractor/technician, Stephanie Doty
(contractor).
      The Information Center maintains a collection of documents dealing with hazardous
waste issues and the Superfund program. Bibliographic records of these documents are
accessible through EPA's Online Library System (OLS) on the mainframe at 919-549-0720
(300-9600 baud, 1 stop bit, 7 data bits, even parity.)
      The collection is made up of the following categories:
      Commercial books

      Toxicologica! profiles and health assessment documents relating to contaminants at Superfund sites

      Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Directives

      Records of Decision (RODs) for Superfund sites

      Other EPA publications
In addition to helping people find books on hazardous waste or Superfund issues, we offer the
following services:
       Provide videos and journals dealing with hazardous waste and/or Superfund issues;

       Create subject oriented bibliographies using OLS, selected CD-ROM databases, including CHEM-BANK,
             Environment Abstracts, or the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Database;

       Provide training in database searching;

       Refer people to appropriate sources of EPA documents, including hotlines and clearinghouses, the
             National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI), and NTIS; and

       Create current awareness services for EPA employees, featuring electronically disseminated tables of
             contents for subject oriented journals, including titles not currently held in the EPA Headquarters
             Library.
Please feel free to contact the HWSIC staff for your information needs!  We are open to visitors
10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., Monday through Friday—but our phones are always open to you!


Fabienne McGovern, Librarian       Jill Mottorn, Librarian         Stephanie Doty, Library Technician
202-260-5934                    202-260-3102               202-260-2977
mcgovern.fabienne@epamail.epa.gov mottorn.jill@epamail.epa.gov   doty.stephanie@epamail.epa.gov  *
                                      THE CATALYST  DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                                  PAGE 3

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                  Author, Author!
                  Agency employees
 recently published books and articles. The
 authors and titles of published works are
 listed below:
 Freeman, Harry, Chief of the Pollution
 Prevention Research Branch, Risk Reduction
 Engineering Laboratory, Cincinnati (513-569-
 7529), Industrial Pollution Prevention
 Handbook, McGraw Hill, New York. This
 book, edited by Freeman, consists of 53
 chapters that address pollution prevention
 from many perspectives. It is available
 through the EPA Library.

     . Wolbarst, Anthony, Section Chief,
 Radiation Studies Division, Office of Radiation
 and Indoor Air, Office of Air and Radiation
 (WSM3401), Physics of Radiology, Appleton
 and Lange/Simon and Schuster.

      If you have written or edited a journal
 article or book, please let us know by sending
the information to The Catalyst, 3404 or email
 Library-HQ. *
Selected Recent Additions to
the Headquarters Library
Collection:
Books:
Beyond the Numbers, a Reader on
Population, Consumption, and the
Environment, edited by Laurie Ann Mazur.
Island Press, 1994 HB871.B446 1994

Climate Action Report, Submission of the
United States of America Under the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change. U.S. Government Printing Office,
1994. QC981.8.C5C5351994
      A "snapshot" of the current U.S.
 program, identifying existing policies and
 measures as a basis for considering future
 actions.

 Encyclopedia of Environmental Information
 Sources, ed. by Sarojini Balachandran.
 Gale Research Inc., 1993  REF Z5863.P7E54

      "A subject guide to about 34,000 print
 and other sources of information on all
 aspects of the environment."

 Risk Assessment of Essential Elements, ed.
 by Walter Mertz, et al.  International Life
 Sciences Institute Press, 1994.
 RM218.7.R57.1994

      Includes discussions of public health
 perspectives, the National Research Council
 recommended dietary allowance and the
 Environmental Protection Agency reference
 dose and case studies on zinc, selenium,
 chromium, manganese, and arsenic.

 Saving Nature's Legacy, Protecting and
 Restoring Biodiversity, by Reed F. Noss and
 Allen Y. Cooperrider, Island Press, 1994
 QH76.N67

      In the first three chapters the authors
 lay the groundwork for biodiversity
 conservation. They then discuss methods for
 inventorying biodiversity and selecting  areas
for protection. Forests, rangelands, and
 aquatic ecosystems are discussed, followed
 by issues of monitoring and future priorities.

 UNIX in a Nutshell, System V edition, a
 Desktop Quick Reference, Revised and
Expanded for SVR4 and Solaris 2.0, by
Daniel Gilly and the staff of O'Reilly &
Associates, Inc.  O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.,
1992.  IRM QA76.76.O63U5453 1992
                                    THE CATALYST DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                           PAGE 4

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More Selected Additions to the
Headquarters Library collection:

EPA Publications:

Office of Administration and Resources
Management:
777e Cookbook, How to Get Contracts
Awarded in EPA. November 1993,
MGM EPA/202/B-93/002

Office of Enforcement:
Enforcement Accomplishments Report, FY
1993. April 1994,
EPAX9011-0005 FY 1993

Office of Research and Development:
Estimating Exposure to Dioxin-Like
Compounds, Volume I: Executive Summary.
External Review Draft, June 1994,
EPA/600/6-88/005Ca

Health Assessment Document for 2,3,7,8-
Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) and
Related Compounds, Volume III of III.
External Review Draft, August 1994,
EPA/600/BP-92/001C, v.3

Research,  Development, and Technical
Services at EPA: A New Beginning, Report to
the Administrator. Agency-Wide  Steering
Committee, July 1994, EPA/600/R-94/122

Strategy for Environmental Health Research
at EPA,  by Ken Sexton and Lawrence W.
Reiter.  December 1990. EPA/600/9-90/053

      The intent of the authors is to "lay out a
strategic health research plan that is
responsive to EPA's regulatory needs, but.
also consistent with  the underlying scientific
issues."
Technical Assistance Directory (Revised).
September 1993 EPA/600/K-93/006

      Includes an organization chart for the
Office of Research and Development (ORD),
descriptions of the various programs and the
people who are responsible for them.

Office of Water:
Developing Successful Runoff Control
Programs for Urbanized Areas, August 1994.
EP A/841/K-94/003

Office of Wastewater Management:
A Plain English Guide to the EPA Part 503
Biosolids Rule, September 1994.
EPA/832/R-93/003

Other government publications:
The Information Infrastructure: Reaching
Society's Goals. Report of the Information
Infrastructure Task Force Committee on
Applications and Technology.  U.S.
Department of Commerce, Technology
Administration, National Institute of Standards
and Technology.  September 1994,
HE7781.154 1994

Other sources:
People of Color Environmental Groups,
1994-1995 Directory, by Robert D. Bullard,
Environmental Justice Resource Center,
1994. REFTD169.6B851994   *
          ET
                 |0 I 6
D
                                                           I
                                                       We've GotYou Covered.
                                   THE CATALYST DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                           PAGE 5

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      Transfer by Federal Agencies of Information to the

          National Technical Information Service (NTIS)


Background:" On May 11,1993, NTIS, part of the Department of Commerce, published a
proposed rule (58 FR 27681) to implement Section 108 of the American Technology
Preeminence Act (ATPA) of 1991 (Public Law 102-245). Section 108 of the ATPA requires all
federal agencies to submit to NTIS in a timely manner unclassified scientific, technical and
engineering information (STEI) resulting from federally funded research and development
activities."

      On Monday, January 3,1994, the final rule was published in the Federal Register. This
regulation became effective on February 1,1994. "Its purpose is to facilitate public access to
the vast amount of scientific, technical and engineering information that is produced by and for
federal agencies."
      "These regulations should significantly expand NTIS's collection of more than two
million printed reports and documents, videotapes, computer software and computerized data
files on tape, diskette,  and CD-ROM. Such information can be purchased from NTIS by the
research and development community, business, and the general public.  This expansion
should significantly improve public access to STEI and contribute to NTIS's ability to operate
on a self-sustaining basis without appropriations."
      The preceding information was excerpted from the actual Federal Register. The exact
citation is 59FR 6, which translates to January 3,1994, pp. 6-12. The following information
was included in a letter from the National Technical Information Service.
      When registering reports with NTIS, a registration charge of $20.00, payable to NTIS
should accompany each document. However, the registration charge is waived if eleven good
quality stock copies accompany each document to be registered. Sale of the stock allows
NTIS to recover a portion of the processing cost.
      An alternative to individual payment is to open an NTIS deposit account. This account
may also be used to purchase documents from NTIS.  There are certain forms which must be
used; they are described in the Handbook of NTIS Services for Federal Agencies which can be
obtained free from NTIS. Any further registration questions may be answered by Frances
Raskin at NTIS at 703-487-4690. According to Pamelia P. Hennessey, NTIS Information
Products Accessions Supervisor, EPA has several people that each program area can contact
about submitting items for NTIS distribution.   •*•
                                    THE CATALYST DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                           PAGE 6

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       HIV/AIDS Collection

       On September 30,1993, President
 Clinton issued an executive memorandum to
 all Federal Agencies and Departments
 mandating that Federal employees attend HIV/
 AIDS education and prevention training.  In
 response to this mandate and the need to
 address this public health crisis, EPA has
 developed a trainingprogram that is  being
 delivered in all EPA locations.  The training
 provides basic information on HIV/AIDS,
 modes of transmission, prevention and testing
 as well as an overview of the rights of ail
 disabled employees.

       Recognizing that people learn in a
 variety of ways, EPA has established a special
 collection of materials on HIV/AIDS.  These
 materials include brochures from local and
 national AIDS service organizations,  reference
 books, articles and videotapes  for those who
 wish additional information after attending
 training.  Please look for this special collection
 near the Employee Assistance  Collection, (first
 aisle, 5th range on the  right) in  the
 Headquarters Library.  The videotapes will be
 kept at the Circulation Desk.   *•
 11th Annual EPA Conference on
 Statistics. February 27-March 2, 1995,
 Williamsburg, VA. Snsoedpy the
 Division and EPA's Statistical Policy Advisory
 Committee.  This is a low cost conference
 which qualifies as a training session. Bus
 service at no cost to  EPA employees from
 Washington, DC and Research Triangle
 Park, NC. For more  information contact: Pat
 Wilkinson at 202-260-5477 or fax
 202-260-4968.

 Low-and No-VOC Coating Technologies
 2nd Biennial International Conference.
 March  13-15, 1995, Durham, NC. Sponsored
 by U.S. EPA Air and  Energy Engineering
 Research Laboratory, Research Triangle
 Park, NC. For more  information contact:
 Michael Kosusko at 91 9-541 -2734 or fax
 919-541-0359.

 17th National Industrial Energy
 Technology Conference and Energy
 Manager's Workshop. April 5-7, 1995,
 Houston, TX. U.S. EPA Climate Change
 Division is one of the  9 sponsors.  For more
 information, contact:  Susan Swanson,
 Conference Coordinator, at 409-862-2291 or
fax 409-862-2457, or Bill Johnston, Executive
 Director, 409-846-0440.   *
                     Conferences,
                   Meetings,
                     Symposiums,
                      Workshops
      This is a selected list of meetings and
conferences chosen for their potential interest
to EPA staff.  If EPA staff wish to have an
EPA-sponsored event listed here, please
forward the information to The Catalyst, HQ
Library, 401 M St., SW—3404, Washington,
DC 20460 or email Library-HQ.
 Reference Inquiries      202-260-5921
 Circulation Inquiries    202-260-5922
 InterlibraryLoan        202-260-5060
 Hazardous Waste-Reference 202-260-59M
 INFOTERRA-Reference  202-260-5917
 Water-Reference        202-260-8670
 Email                  Library-HQ

      The Headquarters Library is
 contractor operated and managed by the
 Office of Information Resources
 Management (OIRM) Information Access
 Branch.       '                    ;
                                   THE CATALYST DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                           PAGE?

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                          CD-ROM Orientation
                               Environmental Factor
                                February 14,1995
               9:00 a.m. in the EPA Headquarters Library (Room 2904)

      Environmental Factor provides easy access to the National Priorities List (NPL),
Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System
(CERCLIS) site data, Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) information, and the Records of
Decision (RODs) and Civil Enforcement Docket databases. It is one of the CD-ROMs
available on the Library CD-ROM tower through the local area network (LAN).
      Please contact the Headquarters Library Reference Desk at 202-260-5921 or through
All-in-One at Library-HQ to reserve a place. When using email, please include your telephone
number, mail code, office and program.  »J»
             s/s      Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)!!
                             In November, the Headquarters Library received from
                       Cambridge Scientific Abstracts the Environmental Impact
                       Statements for 1991,1992 and 1993 with accompanying cumulative
issues of EIS: Digests of EIS (indexes) and the first two issues of the Digests for 1994.  The
microfiche collection now comprises Environmental Impact statements from all federal
agencies, spanning 23 years (1970-1993) and will be updated quarterly.  *•
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency (3404)
Washington, DC 20460

Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
                                   THE CATALYST DECEMBER 1994/JANUARY 1995
                                                                          PAGE 8

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