A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments will ask a federal judge today to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to restore a congressionally mandated $3 billion environmental and climate justice grant program canceled by the Trump administration.
In short:
- Congress created the Environmental and Climate Justice block grants in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to help 349 marginalized communities combat pollution, flooding and extreme heat.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin canceled the program in February, freezing awards that had already been selected from 2,700 applications.
- Earthjustice, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and others argue in U.S. District Court that the move is unconstitutional and “arbitrary and capricious,” while the administration says grantees must sue individually in the Court of Federal Claims.
Key quote:
“The administration terminated the entire program simply because they don’t like it, without any reasoned decision making or consideration of the impacts. The decision was both arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional, and should be overturned.”
— Ben Grillot, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center
Why this matters:
Heat waves, wildfires, and floods are hitting low-income neighborhoods first and hardest. Residents often live near refineries, on floodplains, or in treeless blocks that trap heat, compounding asthma, heart disease, and heat-stroke risks as the planet warms. Congress set aside $3 billion to let those communities design fixes — from tree-planting to air-monitoring — on their own terms. Halting that money leaves volunteer groups and cash-strapped counties to face billion-dollar disasters without basic data or infrastructure, widening racial and economic health gaps. The court fight will decide whether federal agencies can simply sideline environmental justice measures approved by lawmakers even as climate-driven emergencies grow more frequent and expensive. Its outcome could shape how far current and future administrations may go in unraveling climate policy.
Learn more: Vulnerable communities hit hard by cancelation of climate grants
