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Federal Courts Block Administration Efforts to Cancel $21.6 Billion in Biden-Era EPA Grants
Two courts this week dealt blows to the Trump administration’s attempts to withdraw clean energy and climate grants. A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency could not terminate $20 billion in clean energy grants awarded…
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Key points
- Two federal courts blocked attempts by the EPA to cancel over $21 billion in Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act grants.
- The D.C. Circuit Court gave the EPA one week to appeal a $20 billion grant ruling to the Supreme Court.
- A federal judge ordered the EPA to release $1.6 billion in local grants before a Sept. 30 deadline despite agency staffing reductions.
NewsWK — Federal courts delivered two significant legal setbacks to the Trump administration this week, ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot unilaterally cancel more than $21 billion in clean energy and climate grants allocated under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
D.C. Circuit Halts $20 Billion Grant Rescission
In the larger of the two cases, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated an injunction stopping EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin from taking back $20 billion in clean energy grants previously awarded to non-profit organizations. The appellate panel granted the agency a one-week stay to file an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court before the funds must be made accessible to recipients.
District Court Orders $1.6 Billion Restored
In a separate decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel rejected an EPA motion to pause an order requiring the agency to reinstate $1.6 billion in funds under the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program. That lawsuit was initiated by South Carolina-based non-profit The Sustainability Institute, alongside 10 other organizations and six municipal governments, including Baltimore, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; New Haven, Connecticut; and San Diego, California.
Judge Gergel reiterated his earlier determination that the administration acted unlawfully when it attempted to terminate the grant program created and funded by Congress. He mandated that the funds be released before their statutory expiration date at the end of September.
EPA Cites Reduced Staffing and Office Restructuring
In court filings seeking to delay the order, EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Travis Voyles argued that the agency currently lacks the personnel and administrative infrastructure required to manage the grant disbursements. Voyles noted that the administration had dismantled environmental justice offices across the agency as part of broader operational changes.
Despite the agency’s operational arguments, the court ruled that administrative burdens do not justify withholding congressionally appropriated funds from the designated municipal and non-profit recipients.
Based on reporting by Nada Hassanein originally published by Stateline. Read the original story.
