Packages in the EPEL repository require an active maintainer (or maintainers) so that they can be maintained. Orphaned packages are to be removed from the channel if no one takes them after 6 weeks. At the last EPEL Steering Committee meeting, it was decided to 'relax' this rule for current orphaned packages until Dec 17th, 2014 so that there is time for packages to be picked up.
Packages which do not have all their dependencies in a repoclosure of the main upstream repositories and EPEL also are not to remain in the repository.
Reports on packages that are orphaned and removed are listed in the following archived emails.
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/epel-devel/2014-November/010419.ht... https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/epel-devel/2014-November/010414.ht... https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/epel-devel/2014-November/010415.ht...
{What to do if you need a package? Get the package un-orphaned.}