UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 18: Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, talks with reporters after a water policy rule signing ceremony to allow "West Virginia the independence it needs to permit and regulate itself," at the EPA on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
The Environmental Protection Agency must administer the Biden-era Environmental and Climate Justice Grants it illegally canceled last year, a federal judge Wednesday.
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Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel found that the agency’s DOGE-driven cuts to the $2.8 billion block grant program were “arbitrary and capricious and unlawful” and voided the internal guidance that ordered the terminations.
A coalition of cities and nonprofits brought the lawsuit against the EPA after it axed funding to their programs early last year. Following Gergel’s ruling last month, the coalition argued in court that the order compels the agency to restore said funds.
The EPA in turn argued the order “does not compel further action” and refused to reinstate the grants.
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On Wednesday, Gergel handed the coalition a win, writing that “the EPA is defying this Court’s prior order” and clarifying that it must “comply with its statutory obligations to administer the ECJ Program through September 30, 2026” — the date through which Congress funded the programs.
The grants, which were created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration, went toward programs aimed at curbing carbon emissions, reducing pollution and building climate-resistant infrastructure in underserved parts of the country.
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An EPA spokesperson said the agency is “reviewing the decision.”
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