The EPA recently disclosed that the agency will be canceling 781 environmental justice grants nationwide. It is currently unclear how many are in Maryland, but many federal environmental programs support State and local enforcement efforts.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently included, in a related legal filing, its plans to cancel 781 different grants relating to environmental justice programs. These grants, totaling over $1.5 billion, were primarily aimed at supporting projects that mitigate climate change impacts, such as wildfire smoke protection and coastal flooding defenses in vulnerable communities.
The new information expands the reach of the Agency’s realignment, in addition to announcements earlier this year that they were dissolving specific activities and units dedicated to DEI and Environmental Justice outcomes.
From coverage in a Washington Post article (subscribers only):
“EPA is in the process of sending out the formal termination/cancellation notices to all of the impacted grantees,” EPA career official Daniel Coogan wrote in the filing. “EPA has already sent out formal notices to approximately 377 grantees. For the remaining approximately 404 grantees, EPA plans to issue notices within the next two weeks.”
Among the programs that may be targeted as the agency continues its redirection of federal resources may be the EPA’s Government-to-Government program:
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created the Environmental and Climate Justice block grant program in section 138 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and provided EPA with $2.8 billion in grant funding for the program for projects to benefit communities.
The G2G program goals are to:
- Achieve measurable and meaningful environmental and/or public health results in communities;
- build broad and robust, results-oriented partnerships, particularly with community-based nonprofit organizations (CBO);
- pilot activities in specific communities that create transferable models, which can be expanded or replicated in other geographic areas and;
- strengthen the development and implementation of meaningful approaches.
