CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for unlawfully terminating the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program.
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In their brief, Raoul and the coalition explain that the EPA’s mass cancelation of the environmental and climate justice grant program violates clear congressional mandates and fundamental constitutional principles.
“The EPA’s congressionally mandated grants are essential to communities that face overlapping environmental and public health crises. Residents of these often rural or low-income communities deserve equal environmental justice, regardless of geographic location or family income,” Raoul said. “I will continue to stand with my fellow attorneys general to fight for critical funding that continues to be unlawfully withheld from those who need it most.”
The grant program, created and funded by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is designed to provide critical support to communities disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate change. The act mandated the EPA distribute $3 billion in funding specifically to help address these disparities. For example, one $2.7 million grant was intended to address sewage backups along the Chicago-Calumet River system. Now, the sudden termination of these grants has forced grantees to lay off staff, halt programming and freeze hiring.
Attorney General Raoul and the coalition are urging the court to block the program termination while the lawsuit continues because they argue that by abruptly and unlawfully terminating the program and canceling grants, the EPA has caused and will continue to cause widespread harm across low-income communities and communities of color.
In the brief, which was filed in the case Appalachian Voices v. EPA, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition explain that by terminating this grant program, the federal government is inflicting lasting harm on vulnerable communities already facing disproportionate pollution burdens and escalating effects of climate change. These communities are often under-resourced with limited access to vital resources like clean drinking water and are less equipped to recover from devastating weather-related events or to mitigate the increasing impact of climate change within their communities.
Joining Raoul in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Attorney General Raoul’s Environmental Enforcement Division, which enforces civil environmental laws, has recovered millions of dollars from polluters and required companies to undertake environmental improvement projects in communities impacted by pollution. Raoul encourages residents to report environmental justice and other environmental concerns to his office by emailing ej@ilag.gov.
