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- Appalachian Voices v. EPA
Litigation
Appalachian Voices v. EPA
About this case
Documents
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
08/29/2025
Decision
Motion to dismiss granted, motion for preliminary injunction denied, and motion for class certification denied.
The federal district court for the District of Columbia dismissed a class action challenging EPA’s termination of Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants awarded pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act. The court concluded that it did not have jurisdiction over the grant recipients’ claims under the Administrative Procedure Act that the terminations were arbitrary and capricious or contrary to law. Instead, the court determined that the Court of Federal Claims had exclusive jurisdiction over the claims under the Tucker Act because the plaintiffs’ claims were contractual. The court also ruled that the grant recipients could not bring separation of powers and Presentment Clause claims because these constitutional claims were predicated on “underlying statutory violations” of the Clean Air Act and Inflation Reduction Act, and D.C. Circuit precedent prohibits bringing “freestanding” constitutional claims if the underlying violation is statutory.
07/17/2025
Amicus Motion/Brief
Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Gather et al. in support of plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction.
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07/16/2025
Opposition
Opposition filed by defendants to plaintiffs' motion for class certification.
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07/14/2025
Motion To Dismiss
Defendants filed motion to dismiss and memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.
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07/07/2025
Amicus Motion/Brief
Brief filed by amici New York et al. in support of plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.
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06/25/2025
Complaint
Complaint filed.
Grantees under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program filed a class action in federal district court in the District of Columbia challenging the termination of the program. The plaintiffs described themselves and proposed class members as “community-based nonprofit organizations, Tribes, local governments, and higher education institutions” that had each received one or more grants from the program. The complaint asserted that the termination violated separation of powers, the Presentment Clauses of the Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Summary
Class action by grantees challenging the termination of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program.