AGs urge block of Environmental Justice Grant program termination

NATIONWIDE — TERMINATING THE CONGRESSIONALLY- APPROVED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE GRANT PROGRAM is illegal, declares State Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading a 19-state coalition to block the terminations while a court case is decided. The coalition filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit — Appalachian Voices v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — against the EPA for unlawfully terminating the Environmental and Climate Justice Grant Program, which Congress created and underwrote through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The grant program provides critical support to communities disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate change. James and the coalition argue EPA’s abrupt and unlawful termination of the program and cancellation of grants has already caused widespread harm across their states, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color. The Act required the EPA distribute $3 billion in funding specifically to help address these disparities; in New York alone, 22 grantees were awarded more than $70 million in funding to administer projects protecting vulnerable residents from extreme heat, flooding, air pollution and other environmental hazards.

James and the coalition also argue that the executive branch cannot override Congress’s appropriations decisions based on its own policy preferences and that in doing so, the administration violated the U.S. Constitution.

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