A coalition of local governments, nonprofit groups and other organizations is suing to force resumption of a $3 billion EPA program for environmental and climate justice grants halted earlier this year under orders from President Donald Trump.
“No federal law or regulation gives EPA the power to terminate funding appropriated by Congress and obligated by executive branch agencies,” North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and almost two-dozen other challengers wrote in the lawsuit, filed late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Besides unconstitutionally overriding lawmakers’ decision to create the program as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, they alleged, EPA staff violated the law by failing to engage in “reasoned decisionmaking” when they shut down the program following Trump’s executive orders to freeze Inflation Reduction Act disbursements and terminate “equity-related” grants and contracts, the suit says.
The challengers asked a judge to order the program’s reinstatement and ensure that EPA has the workforce and resources to carry it out. The agency does not comment on pending litigation.
