SAN FRANCISCO HAS JOINED a federal class action lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, challenging the agency’s freeze of a grant program, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu’s office said.
It’s at least the third such suit the city and county has joined, after suing President Donald Trump’s administration for withholding grants from both the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The EPA Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program in question was authorized by Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The program was given $3 billion to fund initiatives such as air quality monitoring, natural disaster preparedness, flood and stormwater protection, and other initiatives related to pollution reduction.
Local governments, nonprofit organizations, tribes, and higher education institutions were eligible for the grants. The Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency, a city agency planning and building transportation infrastructure on Treasure Island, is also a plaintiff in the suit, along with 22 other named plaintiffs from across the nation.
The case is called Appalachian Voices, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency et al. and was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit is seeking grants to resume being transmitted to all 350 recipients who have been awarded funds from the Climate Justice program.
“Climate change is an existential threat to humanity that cannot be ignored, and this funding is critical to help our communities address serious environmental issues,” Chiu said in a statement on Thursday. “…Once again, Trump is attempting to illegally terminate funding to promote his anti-environmental policies — all at the expense of our communities and our climate.”
Some of the initiatives funded by the grant program include lead pipe replacement, tree planting in urban heat zones, installing pollution notification systems, and investing in projects to enhance climate resiliency against extreme weather events, according to the civil complaint.
San Francisco’s grant was for $1 million over a three-year period. The Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency (TIMMA) was awarded a much larger grant of $20 million by the EPA in November that was earmarked for six transportation projects.
“By joining this lawsuit, we’re working to ensure that our communities continue to benefit from federal support that advances climate goals and invests in a healthier, more connected future.”
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is also the chair of the Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency, said the program was funding a free shuttle on the island and a bikeshare program.
“By joining this lawsuit, we’re working to ensure that our communities continue to benefit from federal support that advances climate goals and invests in a healthier, more connected future,” Dorsey said in a statement.
As with the other suits the city has filed challenging the withholding of previously authorized federal dollars, the new lawsuit claimed the Trump administration is violating the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers doctrine, which stipulates that Congress controls spending.
It also asserted the grants’ cancellation was a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, which limits how federal agencies can make rules, and it cited the Constitution’s Presentment Clause, which gives the president authority to veto a bill passed by Congress, but not the power to change law once it is signed.
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