Springfield – After the Trump administration ended a subsidy of $ 20 million in Springfield of the Environmental Protection Agency, the city challenged this decision to court.
Springfield is part of a Class Action Demand filed on Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Columbia district, which aims to reestablish the financing of the subsidy Scholarship of Environmental and Climate Justice Block Scholarship. The lawsuit names the EPA and the agency administrator, Lee Zeldin, as defendants and lists two dozens of plaintiffs who include non -profit, tribes and municipalities.
Congress assigned Funds under the Act of Inflation Reduction by 2022. After the inauguration of President Donald Trump, he signed an executive order, “Undo the American energy“This ordered federal agencies to hold funds for inflation reduction law. He also signed another executive order To end all the aid related to the heritage.
After that, the aid began to end, according to the demand. He claims that the EPA cannot legally end the funds of the grant.
“It violates the principles of separating the separation of the legs that a congressional promulgation and funds that are based on nothing but the disagreement of the President with the policies of Congress properly promulgated,” says the complaint.
Lawyers are planning to apply for the certification of class action to include the more than 300 entities, the subsidies through the environmental and climate justice program were canceled, according to a statement from a group of legal groups that submitted the complaint: Earthjustice, South Environmental Law Center, Public Rights Project and Lawyers for a good governance.
“The completion of these grant programs caused widespread damage and interruptions in the projects of the ground that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity to combat environmental damage,” said Hana Vizcarra, a non -profit land lawyer, in a statement.
A spokesman for the EPA refused to comment on Thursday. “Following a long -term practice, the EPA does not comment on current or slope litigation,” the spokesman said in an email.
In a letter from the end of April to the city of Springfield, the Agency officially finished the grant. “The objectives of the award are no longer consistent with EPA financing priorities,” he said.
“As in any change of administration, the Agency reviews each grant program to ensure that it is a proper use of taxpayers’ dollars and to understand how these programs are aligned with the administration’s priorities,” said an EPA spokesman for the Republican in May.
To Springfield, City officials announced The award of the subsidy funds in August 2024 and was planning to use the funds for green projects, including the elimination of the advantage of the houses, the reduction of high asthma rates in the city, the planting of trees and the improvement of roads, in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
The city received its officer End of concession By the end of April.
“The city of Springfield was left out of appeal, but to sue the federal government to enforce the $ 20 million EPA grant,” said City Stephen Buoniconti’s solicitor in a statement. “We are pleased to associate with the non-profit Earthjustice and others by submitting the lawsuit to recover the money from the grant.”
Buoniconti said that Earthjustice is representing the city at no cost to the taxpayers. “Springfield was the only state community in the state to receive the grant award and, with so high bets, we are optimistic that Earthjustice better represents the interests of the city,” he said.
The complaint specifically deals with Springfield. “Located in a valley that often catches air pollution, Springfield is classified in the asthma capital #4 in the United States,” he says, reference The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of 2024 of the Annual Report of America. “It has also significantly increased the risk of exposure to children’s lead and Pedestrian fatalities.,
The city was planning to use funding for a large number of programs to solve environmental problems. The initiatives included the provision of houses with new roofs and efficient windows, increasing the monitoring of air quality, the abandonment mold in the houses and the improvement of air conditioning in a library in the city. The funds would also create a work -off program for green jobs at the Springfield Technical Community College.