EPA Data Website: Will It Still Be Available If Government Shuts Down?

The Environmental Protection Agency tweeted Monday morning to assure citizens of the United States the agency would not be taking down its Open Data site.

The confusion stemmed from a notice that appeared on the site early Monday, warning the site would be shut down come Friday. The exact words, according to photos tweeted by many, read: “This site will be shut down Friday, April 28, 2017.”

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A Washington Post editor spotted the pop-up notice and tweeted asking others to help him “scrape” or collect all the data before the site possibly went down. Friday marks the day before a possible government shutdown should Congress fail to agree on a spending bill. Lawmakers are butting heads over funding for the Mexico border wall President Donald Trump promised during his campaign.

The data site provides information on government-funded research partially paid for with tax dollars. The site makes the data from that research available. Users can also check the site to get regional information on businesses and information like pollution graphs.

It’s unclear whether the possible shutdown and the notice on the site were connected or whether the pop-up notice was the result of a miscommunication.

The phrasing of the pop-up was changed later to reflect the EPA’s tweet that the site would, in fact, be up and running after Friday.

Shortly after President Trump took office there were reports he had requested that climate change information be removed from the EPA’s website, and he restricted the EPA’s authority to use social media and speak to the press. Additionally, Scott Pruitt, Trump's choice for EPA director, has denied the causes of climate change and has ties to the oil and gas industry.