US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan blocked attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency to recoup $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds that have been deposited at Citibank.
In a ruling late Tuesday, Chutkan said the EPA must provide legal justification for cancelling the grants that were awarded last year, which the EPA has so far failed to do. “There are serious due process concerns and questions of whether EPA defendants’ actions were ‘arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, otherwise not in accordance with law’,” Judge Chutkan wrote.
For now, the funds will remain frozen at Citi, where they are held under a custodial agreement. The decision “is a strong step in the right direction,” said Beth Bafford of Climate United, which sued the EPA, along with Power Forward Communities and Coalition for Green Capital.
The coalitions of green lenders will next seek a preliminary injunction to gain access to the congressionally appropriated funds.
