EPA Obligates $27 Billion in Climate-Related Funds to 68 Recipients

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on Jan. 4, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday that it has officially obligated $27 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants to selected recipients, a move that makes the program binding.

The agency said award recipients can now access the fund, allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act, to start implementing projects for reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution in communities.

EPA administrator Michael Regan cited the urgency of addressing climate impacts as the reason for the quick allocation of the fund.

“With climate impacts increasingly impacting all Americans, and especially those in communities that have been historically left behind, EPA knew it had to move swiftly and deliberately to get this historic funding out the door,” Regan said in a statement.

Republican lawmakers had previously called the program a “slush fund” and raised concern over how the resources will be utilized.

The EPA said recipients have worked directly with the agency to meet federal requirements and revise their work plans to receive the fund.

The grants are allocated across three programs: $14 billion for the National Clean Investment Fund, $6 billion for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and $7 billion for the Solar for All program.

The National Clean Investment Fund has three recipients that will establish clean financing institutions to support projects nationwide. The Solar for All Program has 60 recipients.

The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator has five recipients that will create hubs to provide funds and technical assistance to community lenders serving in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

In a letter to the EPA last year, Republican lawmakers raised concerns over the possible conflicts of interest with recipients and the risk of waste and fraud due to the short timeline for awarding the grants. The awards make it difficult for a future administration to repeal the program.

The letter said there were concerns “that the EPA could use this program to subsidize favored special interest organizations.”

House Energy and Commerce chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said during a Jan. 30 oversight hearing that two of the fund’s programs were designed to allow the EPA “funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to nonprofits who happen to be their political allies.”

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is one of many federal efforts to invest in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and address human-caused climate change, which President Joe Biden characterizes as an existential threat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.