• Some state sites were criticized for doing their utmost to defeat citizen access to materials. EPA was viewed as doing inadequate job in supervision.
• EPA should develop information systems that allow the public to retrieve information in common sense ways such as by facility or substance. [Orum]

• EPA should add links to state and local materials on its Web site with appropriate recommendations. [Eklund]

• Web sites are often too technical and do not provide usable real world data to the average citizen.
• Librarians are not in a position to solve this problem.
• Community organizing could help people get appropriate answers.
• Organization can't happen without a good information base. [Smith]
• Epidemiological links between chemicals and illness are poorly understood except in instances like tobacco so we should be cautious in jumping to conclusions. [Conrad]

• Citizens can't effectively participate in agency decisions if EPA does not provide the public with the necessary information.
• How should EPA update its 20-year old public participation policy? [Bonner]

• Neutral forum or vehicle for promoting general understanding of environmental problems? [Orum, Conrad]

• Assessment of date retrieved online.
• Peer-reviewed documents.

• There are often delays for inter-library loans to small town libraries.
• Local libraries have limited resources.
• Environmental analogue to NIH's Medline would be helpful.

• Is the Government Printing Office right not to send publications available online to depository libraries?
• Has EPA, like USDA and the Department of State, made arrangements with research librarians to store complete copies of their Web sites?
• How long should EPA store online non-compliance data for facilities?

Summary prepared by Barbara Brandon, <bhb@info-ren.org>