The Conservation Law Foundation has filed an amicus brief in federal court on behalf of almost 20 community organizations and local governments urging the Environmental Protection Agency to release $14 million in grants that were abruptly terminated this spring.
One of those organizations provides meals for those experiencing food insecurity in New Hampshire and Maine. The nonprofit Gather had received a Thriving Communities grant of about $350,000 to scale its Seacoast Waste Not program.
According to Tania Marino, culinary director for the nonprofit, they have received no communication about when or if they will be receiving the money.
“It was incredibly disappointing to learn on the same day that we, that we were awarded the grant, that the funds actually were rescinded,” she said.
In just over a year the program has served over 120,000 meals from excess food donated by restaurants, caterers or farmers, for example, that would have otherwise gone to waste.
The grant would help Gather expand the program by hiring more staff members and increasing its transportation capacity and number of partner organizations, Marino said.
According to Heidi Trimarco, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, the impact of these grant terminations was “devastating” to community organizations across the country.
“When they learned that they had been granted the awards, they didn't wait for the money to come in. They got right to work,” she said. “So, as a result of this unlawful grant termination, they're left holding the bag”.
The amicus brief was filed in support of Appalachian Voices in its class action lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for its termination of Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant programs.
“It's a way for these groups to tell the court that they have suffered significant harm as a result of these cuts and to inform the court the breadth and the extent of the harm that the Trump administration caused by this wholesale slashing of these promised funds,” said Heidi Trimarco, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation
As the groups await a decision from the court, Appalachian Voices has requested a preliminary injunction, which asks the court to provide temporary relief by reinstating the terminated funds while the litigation proceeds.
The injunction also asks that the court prevent any future terminations of those funds and provide staffing and resources in support of the impacted programs.
“It's unfortunate that we need to take it to the courts to try to get the government to honor this contract that they entered into with all of these nonprofit organizations,” Trimarco said.
