Inclusiv Statement on the Court’s Preliminary Injunction Rejecting EPA’s Unlawful Attempts to Terminate the GGRF Program
New York, NY (April 16, 2025) - Inclusiv, one of five CCIA (Clean Communities Investment Accelerator) Green House Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) grant recipients under contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released the following statement about yesterday’s preliminary court victory:
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the District of Columbia Federal Court issued a Preliminary Injunction order in the GGRF cases rejecting the EPA’s attempts to terminate the program. This is a victory for all GGRF grantees, including Inclusiv, and the subrecipients and communities they serve. The Judge’s order confirms EPA’s actions are unlawful and unsubstantiated.
The court has also ordered that Inclusiv’s case be consolidated with all other existing legal actions, which means that the Preliminary Injunction also applies to Inclusiv.
The court’s order makes the following rulings:
- It rejects the EPA’s March 11 termination attempt;
- It blocks EPA from “unlawfully suspending or terminating the grants,” including by a notice of exclusive control, a notice of termination, or any other limits on the funds in the accounts, except as permitted by the Account Control Agreement (ACA) or applicable law;
- It bars EPA from interfering with Citibank’s disbursement of funds, except as permitted by the ACA or other applicable law;
- It bars Citi from moving funds out of the accounts except as permitted by the ACA or applicable law;
- It orders Citi to “disburse any funds properly incurred before the mid-February suspension of Plaintiffs’ funds”;
- It orders all defendants to file a status report within 24 hours to confirm compliance.
While this is a win in our efforts to protect the GGRF and drive capital to communities and individuals to increase energy efficiency and strengthen resilience, the fight is far from over. Just prior to yesterday’s court decision, the EPA filed a preemptive motion asking the court for a stay (or pause) pending EPA’s appeal of the anticipated Preliminary Injunction order, a rushed move to prevent that order from taking effect and to further block GGRF grantees from accessing the funds. The court rejected the motion as premature but ordered Citibank not to release the funds until April 17 at 2pm, in anticipation of an expected separate appeal by EPA to the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court. As of this morning, the EPA has already filed its notice of that appeal.
Inclusiv has also reached out to Citibank today to ensure that they are prepared to process Inclusiv’s disbursement requests and, more importantly, reopen our Contracting Phase process for our subrecipient credit unions as soon as Citibank is legally allowed to do so.
Inclusiv remains committed to advancing the credit union movement’s work to expand access to affordable clean energy financing. And the CCIA program is an effective and efficient way for Inclusiv and credit unions to help low-income people and communities burdened with unaffordable energy bills lower their energy costs, increase the resilience of their homes and businesses, and create good jobs.
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