A federal judge on Friday tossed out a lawsuit brought by almost two dozen nonprofit groups and localities whose environmental justice grants were terminated by EPA.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that challenges to terminated grants must be heard by a special tribunal, the judge ruled. It’s the first time a court has ruled in EPA’s favor regarding grant terminations.
The ruling marks a blow for the hundreds of recipients of funding from EPA and other agencies who have seen huge swaths of grants canceled because the Trump administration disapproves of the spending, though they may be able to pursue damages in a different court.
Background: Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act included a $2.8 billion chunk of money for environmental and climate justice block grants. The money was to be used by community groups to address environmental issues in historically disadvantaged communities. Like many other parts of the IRA, the grants were terminated en masse by Administrator Lee Zeldin earlier this year.
