The EPA is quietly killing its web archive

The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to shut down its online web archive on 31 December 2026, potentially removing tens of thousands of environmental documents from public access. Researchers and advocates say the archive supports democratic oversight and preserves records of past policies that may not exist elsewhere.

The archive contains EPA material dating to the 1990s, including reports, fact sheets and records of regulatory actions. Although it is no longer updated and has had problems with search and broken links, it has preserved pages removed during earlier administrations, including climate information deleted during Donald Trump’s first term. The EPA previously considered closing it in 2022, citing maintenance costs of about $2 million a year, but delayed the plan after public criticism.