Judge halts EPA effort to claw back green bank funds

Energy & Environment

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Judge halts EPA effort to claw back green bank funds

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has temporarily barred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from clawing back billions in grants that finance climate-friendly projects.

©AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The Trump administration sought to end the grants, which are part of a $20 billion climate program, claiming “waste, fraud and abuse.”

But Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Obama, found that the agency was unable to provide evidence of wrongdoing.

She said officials offered “no specific information about such investigations, factual support for the decision, or an individualized explanation for each Plaintiff.”

“This is insufficient,” the judge added.

Chutkan ordered that the EPA’s decision to terminate the grants cannot take effect and that the agency and Citibank, which is holding the funds, can’t transfer them elsewhere.

Read more at TheHill.com.

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