On April 23, 2025, the federal government filed a compliance report with the District Court for the District of Rhode Island in Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. USDA (No. 25-cv-97). The lawsuit was brought against USDA, DOE, DOI, EPA, HUD, and OMB for withholding Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds pursuant to President Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order and OMB Memorandum M-25-13.
According to the compliance report, EPA is in the process of terminating 781 awards funded by IRA and IIJA appropriations. Although the court issued a preliminary injunction in the case, EPA claims that the terminations are permitted under the injunction because they meet the court’s criteria that terminations be made “based on a pre-existing determination (from before entry of the preliminary injunction) to pause that funding on an individualized basis for some other, independent reason (apart from the fact that it was appropriated under the IRA/IIJA).” EPA purports to have individually reviewed all 781 awards and initiated termination for reasons other than the grants being made under the IRA.
In the compliance report, EPA also reports unfreezing funding under all other awards beyond the 781 awards to be terminated.