EPA canceling nearly 800 environmental justice grants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is canceling nearly 800 grants, most of which have to do with environmental justice, according to a court document.

In a filing that was entered last week but first reported by The Washington Post Tuesday, a high-ranking EPA employee states that the agency has already told 377 grantees that their awards were canceled. 

The agency plans to send cancellation notifications to an additional 404 — meaning a total of 781 grants are being canceled, said the filing, a declaration from Daniel Coogan, the EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Infrastructure and Extramural Resources.

The grants are primarily related to programs that deal with environmental justice — that is, dealing with pollution in communities that face disproportionate impacts and have limited resources. This includes low-income and minority communities. 

The Trump administration has targeted environmental justice programs — firing 280 staffers and reassigning another 175 who worked on the issue, saying it’s part of a broader effort against diversity initiatives.

Most of the programs that had canceled grants appear to pertain to environmental justice, including programs that enable things like pollution monitoring, prevention and cleanup in communities. However, one program also listed as having canceled grants seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of construction materials. 

Coogan stated that the EPA conducted “an individualized, grant-by-grant review” to decide which grants should continue. 

EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou declined to comment further, saying that the administration does not comment on pending litigation. 

The declaration came as part of a case that challenged the freezing of federal grants.