Dear Mr Foucault

Thank you for your request for documents below. In accordance with subsection 15(5)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I confirm receipt of your request by the National Library of Australia.

Kind regards
Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

        
In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au 
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Foucault <[FOI #7965 email]>
Sent: Friday, 15 October 2021 2:41 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - National Library air quality - asbestos, covid, and air filtration

Dear National Library of Australia,

following the info in the 2019 - 2020 annual report about the asbestos remediation programme, under foi request any and all info that discusses the current risks for staff and patrons to the residual asbestos in the nla building, as well as air quality testing results for the building to be provided. also please provide any documentary details outlining the preventative measures with the current hvac system ensuring that pathogens are not being distributed by it thru the system.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Foucault

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #7965 email]

Is [NLA request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to National Library of Australia? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections

Dear Mr Foucault

This is in relation to your FOI request of 15 October 2021.

The Library requests your agreement to an extension of 30 days in accordance with section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, such that the date by which the Library must notify you of a decision in relation to your request is 14 December 2021.

The reasons for the requested extension are as follows.

The scope of your request
Your FOI request, as it currently stands, is as follows:

following the info in the 2019 - 2020 annual report about the asbestos remediation programme, under foi request any and all info that discusses the current risks for staff and patrons to the residual asbestos in the nla building, as well as air quality testing results for the building to be provided. also please provide any documentary details outlining the preventative measures with the current hvac system ensuring that pathogens are not being distributed by it thru the system.

Your request is framed broadly (‘any and all information’) and pertains to several subjects:
• risk management related to asbestos
• air quality testing results
• preventative measures in the current HVAC system to ensure ‘pathogens’ are not being distributed. We note that it is not clear from your request what is included in ‘pathogens’ and whether you are only referring to COVID-19.

Library staff in the Capital Works Section has conducted a preliminary search for documents that relates to risk management of asbestos containing material. Categories of documents include the below:
• emails between the various Capital Works staff and the construction company Manteena
• emails between various Capital Works staff and the consulting engineering company Northrop
• emails between various Capital Works staff and Robson Environmental
• emails between various Library staff in Corporate Branch areas, including Capital Works, Facilities and Security and Human Resources
• documentation generated by Manteena in relation to the HVAC project, such as HVAC Monthly Reports (13 until September 2021), HVAC Minutes of Meetings (37 until 29 October 2021), HVAC Meeting Agendas (37 until 29 October).
• a broad range of internal documents such as agendas, meeting notes (for every meeting at which asbestos containing material was discussed), all capital works project risk registers; Audit and Enterprise Risk Committee and Library Council papers and minutes for meetings at which asbestos containing material in the context of building projects was discussed).

Library staff estimate that in relation to asbestos containing material alone, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of documents falling within the scope of your request.

The Library’s resources
The Library’s Capital Works Section has a full current workplan, undertaking various building projects including managing additional work generated by the COVID-19 lockdown in Canberra. Resources required to locate, identify and collate documents falling under one aspect of your request (managing risk relating to asbestos containing material) would be too great to allow the section to fulfil its responsibilities.

The Library also only has one FOI Officer, who is the Library’s sole in-house legal advisor. In addition to FOI requests, the position also has responsibility for dealing with all legal and legal policy matters arising within the agency. There has also been a recent influx of FOI requests which has required much of the FOI Officer’s time.

As such, the Library does not have enough resources to be able to make a decision with regards to your request by 14 November.

In addition to requesting you agree to a 30 day extension, the Library would also like to flag its intention to negotiate the scope of your request with you. As outlined above, Library staff estimate that thousands of documents fall under one aspect of your request. The Library anticipates that if you agree to a 30 day extension, without narrowing the scope of your request, a practical refusal reason is likely to exist in relation to your request, as the work required in processing your request is likely to substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the National Library from other operations.

Please respond at your earliest convenience:
• confirming your agreement to the 30 day extension
• indicating whether you would be willing to negotiate the scope of your request with a view to narrowing it.

Kind regards
Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

        
In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au 
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-----Original Message-----
From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 27 October 2021 10:15 AM
To: Edward Foucault <[FOI #7965 email]>; FOI <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - National Library air quality - asbestos, covid, and air filtration

Dear Mr Foucault

Thank you for your request for documents below. In accordance with subsection 15(5)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I confirm receipt of your request by the National Library of Australia.

Kind regards
Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

        
In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Foucault <[FOI #7965 email]>
Sent: Friday, 15 October 2021 2:41 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - National Library air quality - asbestos, covid, and air filtration

Dear National Library of Australia,

following the info in the 2019 - 2020 annual report about the asbestos remediation programme, under foi request any and all info that discusses the current risks for staff and patrons to the residual asbestos in the nla building, as well as air quality testing results for the building to be provided. also please provide any documentary details outlining the preventative measures with the current hvac system ensuring that pathogens are not being distributed by it thru the system.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Foucault

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #7965 email]

Is [NLA request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to National Library of Australia? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections

Dear Mr Foucault

Thank you for your prompt response and your agreement to the 30 day extension.

Our understanding is that you would like to narrow the scope of your request to include:

a. air quality results for the ‘requested period’, and
b. preventative measures in the current HVAC system to ensure ‘pathogens’ are not being distributed. You would like ‘pathogens’ to be interpreted broadly to include any potential infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, moulds, protozoa, fungi, as well as chemical agents such as radioactive substances (e.g. radon) or other carcinogenic material.

We have consulted with the relevant business area in the Library to identify what documents the Library holds that falls within the above scope.

In relation to air quality test results – the Library routinely tests temperature and humidity in the Parkes building, not air quality. It does not hold documents that pertain to air quality test results for any period in the last 18 months. The Library has some limited carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring connected to its Building Management System (BMS), which is currently not fully commissioned. However, the Library is intending to conduct CO2 monitoring as part of the transition of the Library’s Parkes building back to its normal operations and has obtained equipment for this purpose. Going forward, the Library will set up a framework for training as well as an explanatory document for CO2 monitoring. We can provide this in due course administratively (i.e. not in response to this FOI request as these are not existing documents) if you would like.

As a side note, the Preservation area of the Library has in the past produced a report on smoke levels and the effects of smoke on collection items, however these do not pertain to people.

In relation to preventative measures in the current HVAC system – the Library currently uses F5 filters for its office space, as is standard for office buildings. It also uses F7 filters for its collection space. It does not use HEPA filters, which is necessary for pathogens, or medical grade filtration. If you would like to see records documenting the Library’s use of the F5 or F7 filters, please let us know.

Kind regards
Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

        
In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au 
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Foucault <[FOI #7965 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 3 November 2021 7:20 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - National Library air quality - asbestos, covid, and air filtration

Dear FOI,

Agreement is granted for provision of a thrity-day extension to the above request. A refinement of the request narrowed to include air quality results for the requested period as well as clarification of the term pathogen - not just referring to covid19 but also to any other potential infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, moulds, protozoa, fungi, and chemical agents such as radioactive substances (eg radon) or other carcingenic material.

Yours sincerely,

Edward Foucault

-----Original Message-----

Dear Mr Foucault

This is in relation to your FOI request of 15 October 2021.

The Library requests your agreement to an extension of 30 days in accordance with section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, such that the date by which the Library must notify you of a decision in relation to your request is 14 December 2021.

The reasons for the requested extension are as follows.

The scope of your request

Your FOI request, as it currently stands, is as follows:

following the info in the 2019 - 2020 annual report about the asbestos remediation programme, under foi request any and all info that discusses the current risks for staff and patrons to the residual asbestos in the nla building, as well as air quality testing results for the building to be provided. also please provide any documentary details outlining the preventative measures with the current hvac system ensuring that pathogens are not being distributed by it thru the system.

Your request is framed broadly (‘any and all information’) and pertains to several subjects:

• risk management related to asbestos

• air quality testing results

• preventative measures in the current HVAC system to ensure ‘pathogens’ are not being distributed. We note that it is not clear from your request what is included in ‘pathogens’ and whether you are only referring to COVID-19.

Library staff in the Capital Works Section has conducted a preliminary search for documents that relates to risk management of asbestos containing material. Categories of documents include the below:

• emails between the various Capital Works staff and the construction company Manteena

• emails between various Capital Works staff and the consulting engineering company Northrop

• emails between various Capital Works staff and Robson Environmental

• emails between various Library staff in Corporate Branch areas, including Capital Works, Facilities and Security and Human Resources

• documentation generated by Manteena in relation to the HVAC project, such as HVAC Monthly Reports (13 until September 2021), HVAC Minutes of Meetings (37 until 29 October 2021), HVAC Meeting Agendas (37 until 29 October).

• a broad range of internal documents such as agendas, meeting notes (for every meeting at which asbestos containing material was discussed), all capital works project risk registers; Audit and Enterprise Risk Committee and Library Council papers and minutes for meetings at which asbestos containing material in the context of building projects was discussed).

Library staff estimate that in relation to asbestos containing material alone, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of documents falling within the scope of your request.

The Library’s resources

The Library’s Capital Works Section has a full current workplan, undertaking various building projects including managing additional work generated by the COVID-19 lockdown in Canberra. Resources required to locate, identify and collate documents falling under one aspect of your request (managing risk relating to asbestos containing material) would be too great to allow the section to fulfil its responsibilities.

The Library also only has one FOI Officer, who is the Library’s sole in-house legal advisor. In addition to FOI requests, the position also has responsibility for dealing with all legal and legal policy matters arising within the agency. There has also been a recent influx of FOI requests which has required much of the FOI Officer’s time.

As such, the Library does not have enough resources to be able to make a decision with regards to your request by 14 November.

In addition to requesting you agree to a 30 day extension, the Library would also like to flag its intention to negotiate the scope of your request with you. As outlined above, Library staff estimate that thousands of documents fall under one aspect of your request. The Library anticipates that if you agree to a 30 day extension, without narrowing the scope of your request, a practical refusal reason is likely to exist in relation to your request, as the work required in processing your request is likely to substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the National Library from other operations.

Please respond at your earliest convenience:

• confirming your agreement to the 30 day extension

• indicating whether you would be willing to negotiate the scope of your request with a view to narrowing it.

Kind regards

Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au 

This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[FOI #7965 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections

Dear Mr Foucault

Please see attached document recording the current use of filters following a recent audit this week. Please note that this document is being provided to you administratively as it does not fall under the (revised) scope of your FOI request. The Library does not currently hold any documents that fall under the scope of your request.

The relevant business area of the Library also has the following information in relation to this document and the use of filters:

1. The Library has been unable to identify a definitive paper trail for the supply of filters (e.g. in the form of purchase orders and or quotes from suppliers)
2. However, as of 13 December, the Library has conducted an audit of the various Air Handling Units (AHUs) and the respective filter types in them. The audit was conducted by NLA staff and our main maintenance contractor.
3. The attached spreadsheet is the formal record of that audit and lists the location, the AHU number, the filter media grade and quantity.
4. While we had indicated that the Library uses F5s and F7s, the audit has demonstrated that, not all AHUs have been updated to those filter types.
5. However, the Library certainly intends to have all collection storage areas served using F7 grade filters, and to have all staffed and other occupied spaces served using F5 grade filters.
7. The Library will further investigate to determine if our AHU systems are capable of supporting higher grade filters in occupied spaces. The primary issues around this are air pressure drop across higher grade filters and whether the fans are capable of overcoming this pressure drop to deliver and maintain conditions in the spaces.

We hope this information and the attached document is helpful.

Kind regards
Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

Please note that the Australian public service is in shutdown from 25 December 2021 to 3 January 2022.

-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Foucault <[FOI #7965 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 18 November 2021 10:24 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - National Library air quality - asbestos, covid, and air filtration

Dear FOI,

Affirmative, I would like to see info within the narrowed scope and ze use of F5F7 fileters too.

Yours sincerely,

Edward Foucault

-----Original Message-----

Dear Mr Foucault

Thank you for your prompt response and your agreement to the 30 day extension.

Our understanding is that you would like to narrow the scope of your request to include:

a. air quality results for the ‘requested period’, and

b. preventative measures in the current HVAC system to ensure ‘pathogens’ are not being distributed. You would like ‘pathogens’ to be interpreted broadly to include any potential infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, moulds, protozoa, fungi, as well as chemical agents such as radioactive substances (e.g. radon) or other carcinogenic material.

We have consulted with the relevant business area in the Library to identify what documents the Library holds that falls within the above scope.

In relation to air quality test results – the Library routinely tests temperature and humidity in the Parkes building, not air quality. It does not hold documents that pertain to air quality test results for any period in the last 18 months. The Library has some limited carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring connected to its Building Management System (BMS), which is currently not fully commissioned. However, the Library is intending to conduct CO2 monitoring as part of the transition of the Library’s Parkes building back to its normal operations and has obtained equipment for this purpose. Going forward, the Library will set up a framework for training as well as an explanatory document for CO2 monitoring. We can provide this in due course administratively (i.e. not in response to this FOI request as these are not existing documents) if you would like.

As a side note, the Preservation area of the Library has in the past produced a report on smoke levels and the effects of smoke on collection items, however these do not pertain to people.

In relation to preventative measures in the current HVAC system – the Library currently uses F5 filters for its office space, as is standard for office buildings. It also uses F7 filters for its collection space. It does not use HEPA filters, which is necessary for pathogens, or medical grade filtration. If you would like to see records documenting the Library’s use of the F5 or F7 filters, please let us know.

Kind regards

Angie

Angie Piao | FOI Officer | National Library of Australia

[NLA request email]

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

nla.gov.au

In line with ACT Government COVID-19 health directions, the Library building is temporarily closed. Your National Library remains open online. Visit us at nla.gov.au 

This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[FOI #7965 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections