The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing scrutiny for withholding information about the distribution of millions of dollars from President Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus spending to environmental justice efforts. Senator Charles E. Grassley has requested an investigation by the EPA’s inspector general, as the agency has obstructed his attempts to uncover how $4.3 million was spent on environmental justice projects. The EPA awarded these funds to 34 organizations as part of a $50 million allocation for environmental justice projects in the American Rescue Plan. Grassley accuses the agency of impeding congressional oversight and preventing transparency by instructing grant recipients to ignore requests for information about the funds’ usage. The EPA’s inspector general is considering involvement in the matter. Grassley has urged the inspector general to initiate a formal investigation. The EPA claims to have been responsive to Grassley’s inquiries and has provided comprehensive responses and documentation. The agency disbursed the funds through its Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program, with grants of up to $200,000 each. The EPA has not disclosed the specific amounts received by each recipient. The funds were intended for underserved areas and aimed to support projects such as tree planting, pruning workshops, educating residents about tree acceptance, and creating an electric vehicle sharing program in low-income communities. The Biden administration is currently allocating nearly $2 billion more from the Inflation Reduction Act for the cooperative agreement program and other environmental justice initiatives. Grassley’s requests for detailed accounting of the funds’ usage have been met with resistance from some organizations and intervention from the EPA. The EPA published vague summaries of how the funds would be used, but Grassley argues that without detailed spending records, the money’s utilization remains unclear. Grassley emphasizes that his inquiries are necessary to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. The EPA has been accused of interfering with congressional oversight and refusing to address the misconduct. Grassley insists on transparency and equal treatment of conservative and liberal groups in terms of funding disclosure.
