A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is slated to issue a ruling by Tuesday on whether to release $20 billion in climate grants to nonprofit organizations or allow Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency to continue to freeze the money, which the groups have warned could put them out of business. 

Since heading the agency, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has set his sights on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, claiming the previous administration improperly distributed the funds by funneling it through Citibank. The EPA has kept the funds frozen and sought to terminate a total of $20 billion in funding for eight nonprofit organizations through the program.

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The fund was established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a law passed by Democrats and signed by former President Joe Biden that provided hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy subsidies. 

The Trump EPA’s efforts were quickly met with litigation by three of the organizations: Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities. The groups have asked a federal judge to release the granted money.

In March, District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order to block the EPA from clawing back the funds. Chutkan extended the restraining last week, granting herself until Tuesday on whether to release the funds as the court determines if the EPA can legally cancel granted funds. 

Zeldin has called the granted money “gold bars,” referencing an undercover video filmed last year in which a former EPA employee said the Biden administration was trying to distribute the granted funds before the new administration. 

“It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic, and we’re throwing like gold bars off the edge,” the former employee says in the video.

Earlier this month, the three organizations argued in the court that EPA’s efforts to freeze and terminate its granted money is unlawful and could cause irreparable harm to the groups by putting them out of business. 

“If Climate United does not obtain a preliminary injunction and is forced to wait to have access to its grant funding restored, Climate United would not survive as it exists today and would need to wind down its operations,” Elizabeth Bafford, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, wrote to the court in support of a preliminary injunction. 

“Climate United likely would be forced to lay off substantially all staff and may not be able to reopen for business again, given the lost staff, lost deals, and reputational harm,” she added.

CLIMATE GROUPS AWAIT ORDER ON EPA EFFORTS TO CANCEL GRANT MONEY

The groups said in court that, without the granted money, they will not be able to fund projects, which include those consistent with the Inflation Reduction Act.

The program was given a total of $27 billion to help fund climate projects across the U.S., specifically in low-income communities. The three nonprofit groups suing the EPA and Citibank to release the funds were granted $14 billion under the program’s National Clean Investment Fund. 

Climate United said all of its projects have been delayed due to the funds remaining frozen, including a $31.8 million project in Arkansas to build 18 solar project sites that is slated to deliver 66 megawatts of energy to the University of Arkansas. 

Another project that has been delayed is $250 million in spending by Climate United to manufacture up to 500 battery electric trucks to provide leasing options for small trucking businesses. 

Bafford, the plantiff’s lawyer, warned that the delay in funding would cause Climate United to not be able to finance programs it has already launched. 

“The freeze of our funds and the unlawful cancellation of our grant agreement have all caused significant uncertainty and unease about our ability to operate in the near-term and our ability to be a long-term partner to developers, small businesses, and American families,” she added.