FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2026
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Environmental Protection Network | epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Jordan Wilhelmi, Lawyers for Good Government | jordan@unbendablemedia.com
EPA’s Own Inspector General Finds Community Change Grants Were Awarded Properly
New OIG Report found no issues in review of $1.5B in grants for local pollution prevention that EPA terminated last year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) and Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) today responded to the release of a new EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report (Report No. 26-E-0016) that found EPA implemented effective controls during its review and selection of Community Change Grant (CCG) applications and adhered to all applicable requirements. The OIG identified no issues warranting recommendations.
The report’s conclusion is unambiguous: the EPA’s grant application review and selection process for the $1.5 billion Community Change Grants Program was fair, transparent, and compliant with the relevant agency policies, the Competition Policy for Assistance Agreements, and the Inflation Reduction Act. The OIG reviewed approximately 1,200 scoresheets across five selection rounds, interviewed key personnel, and assessed 45 criteria. It found that the EPA tailored evaluation criteria to the program, established independent review panels, produced software-generated ranked application lists, and documented selection decisions in detailed memorandums.
The Trump Administration terminated all 80 Track I grants in May 2025 and subsequently used the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025 to rescind the program’s remaining unobligated funds. The Administration claimed these terminations were necessary to save taxpayer money.
“This Inspector General report confirms that the Community Change Grants Program was designed and administered with integrity,” said Michelle Roos, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Network. “The Trump EPA didn’t terminate these grants because something was wrong with them — they terminated them because they refused to help communities that are overburdened and under-resourced address pollution and climate threats. EPA should be strengthening pollution protections — not walking away from programs that help communities become safer, not sicker.”
The OIG report details a rigorous, multi-layered selection process. Applications underwent threshold eligibility reviews to verify compliance with the Inflation Reduction Act, followed by merit reviews scored by independent three-person panels using criteria published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Panel chairs conducted quality assurance and convened deliberations where reviewer scores diverged, and a senior advisory team briefed the selection official before final decisions were made. All 167 reviewers and the selection official signed Conflict of Interest Statements to ensure that decisions were fair across the board.
EPN provided pro bono support to help over 300 communities apply for the Community Change Grant program, including 16 who were ultimately selected. EPN also supported them in their work to negotiate robust, legally-binding award agreements with EPA, and begin the process of implementing these critical projects.
Following EPA’s decision to terminate every single grant made under this program, L4GG and EPN have provided comprehensive support to the impacted grantees. Our Federal Fund Protection Initiative has provided direct technical and legal support to hundreds of these grantees whose funding was unlawfully terminated. L4GG has connected grantees with pro bono legal representation and guidance to navigate funding freezes and termination notices. EPN’s team of more than 600 former EPA career staff has delivered compliance guidance, grant management assistance, and strategic communications support.
Last year, L4GG launched its Court of Federal Claims Clinic in partnership with EPN. The clinic matches terminated grantees with trained pro bono attorneys to file a Court of Federal Claims suit – thus helping to ensure that communities are not forced to abandon the funds they are legally owed simply because the government is attempting to exhaust them. More than 50 organizations have already sought assistance through the clinic.
“Every day the EPA sits on these funds, families around the country are forced to breathe toxic air and drink contaminated water,” said Jillian Blanchard, Senior Vice President of Climate Change and Environmental Justice at Lawyers for Good Government. “The Inspector General has confirmed there was no ‘fraud’ or ‘waste’ – the only things being wasted are time and human lives. The EPA cannot claim to champion efficiency and accountability while unlawfully terminating grants that would provide clean water and air for the very people it is charged by Congress to protect.”
The OIG report also highlights the experience of one awardee, the Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE) in Far Rockaway, New York. This is a community between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay that suffered severe damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. RISE’s grant was intended to fund dune restoration, native plant nurseries, waste removal, and local job creation to protect the community from future storms. RISE described the application process as rigorous; in fact, they reapplied after its initial application was not approved, and was selected in a subsequent round. Its experience illustrates exactly the kind of well-vetted, community-driven work that the CCG Program was designed to support and that the administration chose to terminate.
EPN and L4GG will continue to support affected grantees through litigation, technical assistance, and public advocacy.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is a nonpartisan organization of more than 750 former EPA career staff and appointees who volunteer their expertise to protect the nation’s 50-year bipartisan progress toward cleaner air, water, and land. EPN provides objective technical assistance, policy analysis, and public education grounded in science and the law. Learn more at environmentalprotectionnetwork.org.
ABOUT LAWYERS FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is a community of more than 125,000 attorneys and advocates working to ensure that all levels of government promote equal justice under the law and uphold civil and human rights, including the right to live in a healthy environment. L4GG mobilizes large-scale pro bono legal services and has delivered more than $100 million in pro bono representation to underserved communities. Learn more at lawyersforgoodgovernment.org.