FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2025
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Environmental Protection Network Backs Lawsuit Against EPA’s Unlawful Termination of Environmental and Climate Justice Program Grants
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Network stands in solidarity with federal grantees and a coalition of nonprofits, local governments, and Tribes who have filed a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration for unlawfully terminating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental and Climate Justice Program grants. These grant terminations have left communities more vulnerable to pollution and climate disaster, disrupted vital environmental justice projects, and put the health and well-being of communities across the country at risk.
The Environmental Protection Network has been supporting hundreds of EPA grantees who are directly impacted by the termination of these grants, which reduce pollution, increase community resilience to climate change, and build local capacity to address environmental harms. The abrupt cancellation of these funds has caused widespread disruption to ongoing projects and left many organizations struggling to move forward without the promised financial support. The Environmental Protection Network, for example, lost nearly $2 million in grant funding that supported staffing and resources for its pro bono technical assistance work. This funding allowed the Environmental Protection Network to connect approximately 2,000 communities with EPA alumni volunteers, providing free expert guidance and support to these communities to access cleaner air and water while strengthening their resilience to climate change.
“The Environmental Protection Network stands with our partners, colleagues and communities across the country who have been harmed by the unlawful termination of these critical grants,” said Michelle Roos, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Network. “These projects were funded to address long-standing environmental and health inequities in vulnerable communities. The administration’s actions put the health and well-being of communities in jeopardy, and we fully support the fight to restore these grants and continue this important work.”
Roos also submitted a declaration to the court in support of the lawsuit in which she highlighted that EPA’s actions left hundreds of grantees struggling to understand why their funding was abruptly frozen or terminated. Despite EPA’s claims of conducting an “individualized, grant-by-grant review,” many grantees received vague termination notices, which cited “changes in agency priorities,” with no clear explanation or documentation to support these decisions. This lack of transparency and failure to provide necessary records further deepens the disruption faced by communities already impacted pollution and environmental injustice.
The lawsuit seeks to restore funding for community-driven environmental and climate justice projects that were unlawfully halted. Lawyers for Good Government, Earthjustice, Southern Environmental Law Center and the Public Rights Project represent a coalition of over 350 grant recipients who are fighting for the continuation of projects that are essential for the health, resilience, and safety of their communities.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 650 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical knowledge and subject matter expertise.