Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs One of eight groups that received a total of $20 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency to finance clean-energy and pollution-reduction projects sent a letter to the EPA Tuesday asking the agency to explain why bank accounts holding the money have been frozen.In a 12-page letter to the EPA, a lawyer writing on behalf of the Climate United Fund argued that a freeze on the accounts was illegal and asked the EPA to reverse its action.”Alternatively, Climate United requests that the EPA stay its decision pending judicial review,” Adam Unikowsky at the law firm Jenner & Block wrote.Climate United is among the groups awarded money last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022.The group’s $6.7 billion grant requires it to use about 80 percent of the money on projects in low- and moderate-income communities, rural communities and tribal communities to improve energy efficiency, cut energy bills and reduce pollution.
Former Representative Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, during his Senate Environment and Public Works confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 16 in Washington, D.C.
Former Representative Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, during his Senate Environment and Public Works confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 16 in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
However, Climate United said it has been unable to draw the funds from bank accounts managed by the federally assigned financial agent, Citibank, since February 18.A spokesperson for Climate United told Newsweek via email that despite multiple attempts to contact the EPA and Citibank, the group has not received any explanation for the freeze on the accounts.”The current funding freeze harms the communities we serve, and we are taking the next step to ensure we can deliver on our contract,” Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said in a statement to Newsweek. “We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss our program and work plan in detail with the EPA, and to reaffirm our commitment to full transparency and compliance with grant terms, as has been the case since we were notified of our award last April.”As Newsweek reported on Friday, the GGRF has been a target of criticism by President Donald Trump’s top environmental official, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. Shortly before the accounts were frozen, Zeldin said in a video release that he wants to terminate the financial agent agreement and have the bank return the balance.”The days of irresponsibly shoveling boat loads of cash to far-left, activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said.However, when contacted for comment on Tuesday, an EPA spokesperson would not confirm that the EPA had frozen the funds.”The GGRF funds in question were expended from the agency,” the spokesperson said via email. “Any freeze on funds is at the discretion of Citibank.”A spokesperson for Citibank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The financial agent agreement, a common tool used by the U.S. Treasury, makes clear that the bank can act only on “direction from the relevant secured party.” In a statement Monday, the EPA said it was recommending that the agency’s inspector general look into the management and oversight of the GGRF.Climate United is a national nonprofit coalition including partners Calvert Impact, Community Preservation Corporation and Self-Help Ventures Fund. According to the EPA’s document announcing the awards last year, the partners have “successfully raised, invested, and managed nearly $30 billion of private and institutional capital to increase environmental sustainability and unlock new, lasting economic opportunities in low-income and disadvantaged communities.”In his letter to the EPA, Unikowsky argued that termination or suspension of Climate United’s grant would violate EPA regulations and would be unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.As Newsweek reported earlier, a prominent legal scholar said the freeze on accounts was “strikingly illegal.” Georgetown Law professor David Super said that if the accounts remain frozen, the affected groups would have to sue the EPA, “and they will win.”
