Judicial Watch Sues EPA for Records about Controversial Obama Environmental Justice Grants

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking copies of grant awards and associated proposals for “environmental justice” grants in 2014 and 2015 (Judicial Watch, Inc., v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 1:17-cv-00542)).

The EPA’s controversial “environmental justice” programs provide taxpayer funding for environmental and other left-wing interest groups.  The EPA awards more than $4 billion annually in funding for grants and other assistance agreements.  Shortly after President Trump assumed the presidency, the Trump administration instructed officials at the EPA to freeze its grants and contracts.

The lawsuit was filed after the EPA failed to respond to a simple November 25, 2015, FOIA request for:

• Copies of all grant awards and associated proposals for “environmental justice” grants awarded by the EPA in 2014 and 2015.

The EPA defines “environmental justice” as “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

“The Obama EPA’s ‘environmental justice’ slush fund for its leftwing allies needs to be exposed,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “This is a simple records request and the fact that the Obama EPA ignored it for years tells you the agency has something to hide.”

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