Lawsuits over EPA’s termination of $7 billion in Biden-era solar grants can only be heard by a special court that handles money claims against the government, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
The decision is a setback for the almost two dozen states hoping to reverse the Trump administration’s cancellation of their grants, but they are already pushing a parallel lawsuit in federal claims court seeking damages from the government.
The $7 billion Solar for All program was part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund passed in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. But while EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin moved swiftly to terminate the other $20 billion in grants, for several months he left alone the solar program, which funded projects in almost every state.
That changed after Republicans passed their megalaw last summer. That bill rescinded “unobligated” funds under the GGRF, which Zeldin argued required him to terminate all $7 billion in grants issued under the solar program. Democrats have maintained the GOP megalaw did not require the termination of obligated grants.
