{"id":490,"date":"2026-06-15T22:16:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T22:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2026-06-15T22:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T22:16:32","slug":"the-epa-illegally-terminated-climate-justice-grants-a-federal-judge-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490","title":{"rendered":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more FIFA Proposes Opening Match Between Israel and Palestine for Youth Tournament<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A South Carolina federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration\u2019s termination of hundreds of environmental justice grants was illegal, a decision that could impact $20 million in federal funding rescinded from the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Nevada. <\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s decision to terminate the $2.8 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program was \u201carbitrary and capricious and unlawful,\u201d U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel wrote in Thursday.<\/p>\n

The federal climate program was terminated in May 2025 following two executive orders issued by President Donald Trump targeting funding for renewable energy and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the federal level.<\/p>\n

In Nevada, the program\u2019s termination eliminated a $20 million EPA grant that would have funded a multi-year climate resiliency plan to deliver water, energy, and food infrastructure to about 1,200 tribal members who live on the Walker River Reservation. <\/p>\n

The funding would have weatherized and increased energy efficiency and climate resiliency for 150 homes \u2014 about 30% of all existing homes on the reservation.<\/p>\n

In the ruling, the judge wrote that the Trump administration\u2019s decision to terminate a grant program authorized by Congress under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act \u201cfor policy reasons\u201d was a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue rules.<\/p>\n

In practice, that means a federal agency does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend congressionally mandated funds due to policy disagreement with Congress. <\/p>\n

However, the judge stopped short of ordering the agency to resume the program. Restoring the program following its dismantlement last spring \u201cwould presumably require ordering EPA to rehire\u201d staff charged with administering the program, said the judge, calling such an order \u201cimpractical.\u201d <\/p>\n

The judge wrote that plaintiffs \u201care of course free to pursue their claims for alleged unlawful termination of their grants in the\u201d Court of Federal Claims, which hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. The judge also denied a request to extend the program\u2019s September deadline for awarding grant funds.<\/p>\n

The ruling is in response to a March 2025 lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Public Rights Project on behalf of several cities and nonprofits. A spokesperson for the law center said it\u2019s too soon to know how the ruling will impact individual grant recipients, but that they are watching for how EPA responds.<\/p>\n

Read more Is Affordability a Climate Issue? Philadelphia Hunger Strikers Said Yes.<\/a><\/p>\n

A spokesperson with the EPA said the agency \u201cis reviewing the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nevada Clean Energy Fund \u2014 a nonprofit bank that would have administered the $20 million EPA grant awarded to the Walker River Paiute Tribe \u2014 is not a part of the lawsuit, but said they are following the case and its impact on Nevada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ruling was really good for the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, and for the program in general,\u201d said Asheesh Bhalla, the general council for the bank. \u201cThe court stated very clearly and directly that the federal government\u2019s termination of the ECJ block grant program was illegal. They said that very directly.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe court held that the executive branch had no authority to unilaterally refuse to administer those funds,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe commend the court on their decision and look forward to the federal government complying with the court\u2019s order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhalla said the ruling gave those impacted by grant terminations a path to recover withheld funds in the Court of Federal Claims, while also simultaneously allowing them to challenge the legality of agency-wide policies in federal district court under the Administrative Procedure Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court here clearly said that there are administrative claims, there are constitutional claims, and there are monetary claims,\u201d Bhalla said.<\/p>\n

Kirsten Stasio, the CEO of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, said that while the judgement \u201cisn\u2019t unlocking funds for us right now\u201d it was a legal validation that \u201ccommunities in Nevada and across the US that were meant to benefit from these funds shouldn\u2019t have been cut off from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss of funding was a blow to underserved frontline communities in Nevada facing the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

Part of the $20 million EPA grant awarded to the Walker River Paiute Tribe was earmarked for a planned water infrastructure project that would improve water quality and allow more than a hundred homes to be built at higher elevations further from the river, which periodically floods to dangerous levels. <\/p>\n

The funding would have also covered the remaining cost of the tribe\u2019s planned Community Resilience and Food Storage Hub \u2014 a fully electric and solar powered building with battery storage that could increase food and medication security while sheltering the reservations\u2019 most vulnerable residents from growing weather emergencies and rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n

Read more Obama Casts Doubts on Any Trump-Negotiated \u201cDeal\u201d to End Iran War<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But the judge didn\u2019t order the program\u2019s resumption and denied a request to extend the deadline for awarding grants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"But the judge didn\u2019t order the program\u2019s resumption and denied a request to extend the deadline for awarding grants.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490\"},\"wordCount\":840,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490\",\"name\":\"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=490#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"But the judge didn\u2019t order the program\u2019s resumption and denied a request to extend the deadline for awarding grants.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules","datePublished":"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490"},"wordCount":840,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490","name":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-15T22:16:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5a6fe90de43e43aceb5a4fed751bfb4.jpg","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=490#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The EPA Illegally Terminated Climate Justice Grants, a Federal Judge Rules"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}