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Appendix 1: Public Law 101-423

Final Report to Congress on the Joint Resolution to Establish a National Policy on Permanent Papers

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One hundred first Congress of the United States of America
At the Second Session

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety

JOINT RESOLUTION

TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL POLICY ON PERMANENT PAPER

      Whereas it is now widely recognized and scientifically demonstrated
       that the acidic papers commonly used for more than a century in
       documents, books, and other publications are self-destructing and
       will continue to self destruct;
      Whereas Americans are facing the prospect of continuing to lose
       national, historical, scientific, and scholarly records, including
       government records, faster than salvage efforts can be mounted
       despite the dedicated efforts of many libraries, archives, and 
       agencies, such as the Library of Congress and the National Ar-
       chives and Records Administration;
      Whereas nationwide hundreds of millions of dollars will have to be
       spent by the Federal, State, and local governments and private
       institutions to salvage the most essential books and other mate-
       rials in the libraries and archives of government, academic, and
       private institutions;
      Whereas paper manufacturers can produce a sufficient supply of 
       acid free permanent papers with a life of several hundred years,
       at prices competitive with acid papers, if publishers would specify
       the use of such papers, and some publishers and many university
       presses are already publishing on acid free permanent papers;
      Whereas most Government agencies do not require the use of acid
       free permanent papers for appropriate Federal records and
       publications;
      Whereas librarians, publishers, and other professional groups have
       urged the use of acid free permanent papers;
      Whereas even when books are printed on acid free permanent paper
       this fact is often not made known to libraries by notations in the
       book or by notations in standard bibliographic listings; and
      Whereas there is an urgent need to prevent the continuance of the
       acid paper problem in the future: Now, therefore, be it
      
       RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
      STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, 
       SECTION 1. It is the policy of the United States that Federal
      records, books, and publications of enduring value be produced on
      acid free permanent papers.
       SEC. 2. The Congress of the United States urgently recommends 
      that--
           (1) Federal agencies require the use of permanent 
         papers for publications of enduring value produced by the 
         Government Printing Office or produced by Federal grant or 
         contract, using the specifications for such paper established by 
         the Joint Committee on Printing;
           (2) Federal agencies require the use of archival quality acid
         free papers for permanently valuable Federal records and 
         confer with the National Archives and Records Administration 
         on the requirements for paper quality;
           (3) American publishers and State and local government use 
         acid free permanent papers for publications of enduring value, 
         in voluntary compliance with the American National Standard;
           (4) all publishers, private and governmental, prominently
         note the use of acid free permanent paper in books, 
         advertisements, catalogs, and standard bibliographic listings; 
         and 
           (5) the Secretary of State, Librarian of Congress, Archivist of 
         the United States, and other Federal officials make known the 
         national policy regarding acid free permanent papers to foreign 
         governments and appropriate international agencies since the 
         acid paper problem is worldwide and essential foreign materials 
         being imported by our libraries are printed on acid papers.
       SEC. 3.  The Librarian of Congress, Archivist of the United 
      States, and the Public Printer shall jointly monitor the Federal 
      Government's progress in implementing the national policy de-
      clared in section 1 regarding acid free permanent papers and shall
      report to the Congress regarding such progress on December 31, 
      1991, December 31, 1993, and December 31, 1995.  In carrying out the 
      monitoring and reporting functions under this section, the Librarian 
      of Congress, the Archivist of the United States, and the Public 
      Printer may consult with the National Endowment for the Human-
      ities, National Agricultural Library, National Library of Medicine, 
      other Federal and State agencies, international organizations, pri-
      vate publishers, paper manufacturers, and other organizations with 
      an interest in preservation of books and historical papers.
       
Approved October 12, 1990.
      

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