Technical Reports

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: July 28, 2020 |There has been a significant reduction in the financial transparency of the Department of the Interior (DOI). Between March and May 2020, DOI removed the budget justifications for all years prior to FY2020 that had been hosted on its DOI.gov website. The URLs for those budget justifications now register …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: June 1, 2020 | In March 2020, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) changed its tagline, highlighted in every DOI webpage (www.doi.gov/) footer, from “Protecting America’s Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future” to “Stewarding Conservation and Powering Our Future.” This represents a trend in the Department’s shifting public image. In 2018, …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: May 4, 2020 | In March 2019, the Department of the Interior (DOI) updated the dropdown list of “Priorities” on its webpages to include a new priority of “Recreation.” The landing page of the new priority included links to recreational resources at four of DOI’s bureaus: National Park Service, Bureau of Land …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: December 10, 2019 | This report covers changes made to the EPA’s Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction (UOG) Effluent Guidelines webpage between July 1 and July 5, 2019, including the removal of information relevant to UOG extraction wastewater management and the final rule’s enforcement. The webpage provides contextual information regarding the promulgation of …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: February 28, 2019 | Since Summer 2018, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has restricted access to its primary climate change webpage: https://www.doi.gov/climate. This change extends previous content removals from the page reported on by EDGI in 2017. DOI has also removed “Climate Change” from its linked menu of “Our Priorities” on …

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | Report written: February 25, 2019 |Different federal agencies managed their web resources differently during the recent  35-day partial government shutdown. Many agencies, such as the Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA) placed a banner at the top of webpages to inform the public that  websites would not be updated, and did not update public datasets …

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) | Report written: December 18, 2018 | The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed and altered web resources regarding conservation efforts for the sage grouse during the period between March and December 2018, when sage grouse conservation plans have been under revision by BLM. Screenshots …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: October 31, 2018 | Since April 2017, ​EPA has substituted their climate change subdomain​ with a splash page stating that these sites were being updated to reflect the views of the Trump administration. In October 2018, EPA modified that splash page to remove any mention of “updating” and to simply state, “We want …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: October 9, 2018 | The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) former “Natural Gas Extraction – Hydraulic Fracturing” webpage has been updated to entirely remove the page title and change it to “Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Development.” A section detailing EPA stakeholder outreach called “Promoting Transparency and Conducting Outreach” was removed. A section called …

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) | Report written: September 25, 2018 | The U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has removed links and content related to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and to “Incidental Take” from three webpages in the FWS domain. The FWS “Incidental Take” page itself has also been removed. Additionally, a …

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | Report written: July 2, 2018 | In late 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) webpages on climate change were altered to remove mentions of the impact of climate change on occupational safety and health. Climate change mentions and information, including many …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: April 23, 2018 | The EPA has removed its “International Priorities” page, which listed “Strong Environmental Institutions,” “Climate Change,” “Air Quality,” “Clean Water,” “Toxic Chemicals,” and “E-Waste” as priority areas. Likewise, the “International Grants and Cooperative Agreements” page and links to information about priorities and grant applications were removed from EPA’s International Cooperation …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: January 9, 2018 | DOI’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed its climate change webpage and altered language on several webpages describing BLM’s mission, management of public lands, and national priorities. Screenshots …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: December 21, 2017 | 92 documents regarding national parks’ response to climate change have been removed from the National Park Service (NPS) “Climate Friendly Parks Program” website. NPS is part of the Department of the Interior. To become a Climate Friendly Parks (CFP) member, parks are required to meet four milestones, which …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: December 6, 2017 | The EPA’s Greening ​EPA ​website ​has ​been ​altered ​to remove ​access ​to ​Web ​resources ​on ​climate ​change ​adaptation, ​and ​to ​remove ​wording related ​to ​EPA’s ​own ​goals ​for ​climate ​change ​resilience ​and ​adaptation. ​An ​EPA ​statement on ​climate ​change ​adaptation ​and ​a ​link ​to ​the ​Statement ​have ​been ​entirely …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: October 18, 2017 | On ​April ​28, ​2017, ​the ​EPA ​removed ​its ​website ​titled ​“Climate ​and ​Energy ​Resources ​for State, ​Local, ​and ​Tribal ​Governments.” ​Approximately ​three ​months ​later, ​a ​new ​website titled ​“Energy ​Resources ​for ​State, ​Local, ​and ​Tribal ​Governments” ​was ​launched ​in ​its place, ​with ​fewer ​pages ​and ​omitting ​Web ​resources ​relating …

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) | Report written: October 5, 2017 |The ​Federal ​Emergency ​Management ​Agency ​(FEMA) ​removed ​statistics ​from ​the ​“Federal Response ​Updates” ​section ​on ​its ​“Hurricane ​Maria” ​webpage. ​Certain ​subsections ​and bullet ​points ​reporting ​statistical ​metrics, ​quantifying ​access ​to ​electricity ​and ​drinking water, ​were ​removed. ​Additional ​statistics, ​descriptive ​bullet ​points, ​and ​images ​were ​also updated. ​This ​report ​confirms …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: September 19, 2017 | The ​EPA ​changed ​language ​on ​the ​SmartWay Program ​website, ​reducing ​mentions ​of ​carbon, ​greenhouse ​gasses, ​and ​climate change. ​Terms ​like ​“sustainability” ​and ​“emissions” ​replaced ​mentions ​of ​“carbon,” and ​emphasis ​on ​international ​SmartWay ​and ​other ​climate ​efforts ​were ​reduced. Screenshots …

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | Report written: August 20, 2017 | The​ ​National​ ​Institute​ ​of​ ​Environmental​ ​Health​ ​Sciences​ ​(NIEHS)​ ​has​ ​altered​ ​climate change​ ​language,​ ​updated​ ​climate​ ​change​ ​references,​ ​and​ ​reduced​ ​access​ ​to​ ​a​ ​Web resource​ ​with​ ​information​ ​on​ ​climate​ ​change​ ​and​ ​human​ ​health​ ​across​ ​several webpages.​ ​On​ ​the​ ​Global​ ​Environmental​ ​Health​ ​pages,​ ​the​ ​term​ ​“climate​ ​change”​ ​has …

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Report written: August 1, 2017 | Between the evenings of July 27 and July 28, USDA removed substantial portions of its Climate Hubs website. The web content was removed for approximately 5 days without notice or explanation and was returned following media inquiries made with the USDA based on the release of the report …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: July 12, 2017 | Web resources were removed from the “Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act” ​page​ on the EPA’s website. The lack of access to these resources likely originated from mismanagement of web resources during the EPA’s climate change website …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: June 29, 2017 | The EPA overhauled its website pertaining to the Clean Water Rule. The previous website, which extensively described the ​Clean Water Rule and its benefits​, was replaced by a website providing information about the EPA’s review of the Rule. Screenshots …

Department of Energy (DOE) | Report written: May 20, 2017 | The DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions’ (OTT) Clean Energy Investment Center page has been updated to entirely remove the phrase “clean energy.” The Center’s name was changed from “Clean Energy Investment Center” to “Energy Investor Center” and links to pages on clean energy resources were removed from the OTT …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: May 5, 2017 | As a result of the EPA’s Climate Change website overhaul, the “A Student’s Guide to Global Climate Change” subdomain is no longer accessible via the main EPA website and is incorrectly stated as captured in the EPA’s January 19 snapshot. Screenshots …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: April 28, 2017 |The DOI made changes to its climate change page, removing and re-writing descriptive paragraphs and entire sections on the DOI’s role in addressing climate change. Screenshots …

Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: April 19, 2017 | DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) has made extensive changes to pages pertaining to the Bioenergy Technologies Office, Wind Energy Technologies Office and Vehicles Technologies Office. Stated office priorities were changed to decrease emphasis on renewable fuels as a replacement for fossil fuels and increase emphasis …

Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: April 19, 2017 | DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) has made extensive changes to pages pertaining to the Bioenergy Technologies Office, Wind Energy Technologies Office and Vehicles Technologies Office. Stated office priorities were changed to decrease emphasis on renewable fuels as a replacement for fossil fuels and increase emphasis …

Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: April 19, 2017 | DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) has made extensive changes to pages pertaining to the Bioenergy Technologies Office, Wind Energy Technologies Office and Vehicles Technologies Office. Stated office priorities were changed to decrease emphasis on renewable fuels as a replacement for fossil fuels and increase emphasis …

Department of Transportation (DOT) | Report written: April 13, 2017 | The DOT’s Federal Highway Administration ​(FHWA) has changed language and titles across multiple pages relating to environmental effects of transportation, such as replacing “climate change” and “greenhouse gases” with terms like “sustainability” and “emissions”. Screenshots …

Government Accountability Office (GAO) | Report written: April 4, 2017 | The GAO page on managing federal oil and gas resources has been edited to change the framework within which natural gas production is discussed. Content on the environmental and public health risks of shale oil and natural gas production was also removed. Screenshots …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: March 28, 2017 | The EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utilities program was renamed to Creating Resilient Water Utilities. This change was reflected on the program’s page – all mentions of the word “climate” were removed and terms like “extreme weather” and “resilience” were emphasized. Screenshots …

White House (WH) | Report written: March 22, 2017 | The description and mission statement of the WH’s Office of Science and Technology policy was changed, and major site reorganization occurred. Screenshots …

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Reports written: February 13, 2017 | The DOI’s Bureau of Land Management’s language about the purpose of the 2015 Hydraulic Fracturing Rule and a link to that rule from a page on regulations for onshore energy production were removed. Additionally, a section on, and link to, the proposed Methane Waste Prevention Rule was removed …

Department of State | Report written: February 10, 2017 (Updated: April 12, 2017) | The description paragraph for the Office of Global Change has been significantly changed. In particular, the terms “adaptation” and “sustainable landscapes” have been added, while the term “greenhouse gas” has been removed. Several links, including one to the Climate Action Report, were removed. Screenshots …

Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: February 8, 2017 | On the DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) website, language and content on the Energy Kids educational pages describing environmental impacts of various energy sources has been changed and removed to downplay the harms of nonrenewable energy sources. Screenshots Addendum …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: January 31, 2017 | The description of the role of the Office of Water’s Office of Science and Technology, in the EPA, removed any mention of science, and replaced a mission of developing scientific foundations for protecting people with developing economically and technologically feasible industry performance standards. Screenshots …

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Reports written: January 29, 2017 | Links to and descriptions of environmental and climate change programs which establish collaborations with international, federal, interagency, and tribal partners were removed from the EPA’s Federal Partner Collaborations page. Screenshots …

Department of State and Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: January 26, 2017 | On the Department of State’s website, the descriptions of the Office of Global Change and the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change were changed. In addition, pages relating to climate change agreements, such as a page about the Climate Action Report, were removed …

Department of State and Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: January 26, 2017 | On the Department of State’s website, the descriptions of the Office of Global Change and the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change were changed. In addition, pages relating to climate change agreements, such as a page about the Climate Action Report, were removed …