Sponsors (9)
This bill trades roughly $3 billion in rescinded unobligated grant funds and simpler EPA grant administration for the elimination of federal support for environmental/climate-justice projects and capacity building, disproportionately harming vulnerable communities and shifting costs to local governments and residents.
Taxpayers: Federal spending is reduced by rescinding unobligated grant funds from the repealed program (up to about $3.0 billion), freeing resources for other federal priorities.
EPA and state governments: The agency's grant portfolio and oversight burden are simplified by removing a statutory grant program, reducing administrative complexity.
State and local governments and nonprofits: Lose access to up to $2.8 billion in federal grants and about $200 million in technical assistance, reducing funding for local projects and capacity building.
Low-income and minority communities: Lose grant support for environmental and climate-justice projects, which will likely reduce pollution mitigation, undermine climate resilience, and worsen environmental and public health outcomes.
Local governments and taxpayers: Short-term federal budget savings may come at the cost of reduced long-term investments in community resilience, shifting cleanup and adaptation costs to local governments and residents.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants authority and rescinds any unobligated funds previously available under it.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Mike Flood · Last progress February 6, 2025
Repeals the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants authority in federal law and rescinds any unobligated funds that were previously made available under that authority as of the day before enactment. The repealed authority had included a FY2022 authorization of $2.8 billion for grants, $200 million for technical assistance, a 7% administrative reservation, eligible activities/entities, and a definition of "greenhouse gas." The rescission applies only to amounts that remain unobligated on the day before enactment; obligations already made before that date would not be rescinded by this text. The change removes a specific federal grant program and the remaining unspent balances tied to it.