Community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and related defendants alleging that they prepared flawed environmental assessments of the impacts of using federal disaster aid to repair, reconstruct, and relocate Puerto Rico’s “outdated, inefficient, and centralized fossil fuel-based electricity infrastructure and to ensure various public facilities in Puerto Rico had “continued access to the centralized fossil fuel power system.” The complaint alleged that the defendants failed to consider reasonable alternatives such as reliance on distributed renewable energy systems. Alleged flaws in the environmental assessments included failures to consider climate change impacts, including failure to consider how climate change would affect the proposed actions. The plaintiffs contended that reconstruction of existing powerlines and other infrastructure would not reduce the power grid’s vulnerability to problems that are expected to increase as a result of climate change such as wind, flooding, and corrosion from saltwater exposure. In addition, the plaintiffs alleged the disaster aid projects would “actively exacerbate the climate crisis” by investing billions of dollars in Puerto Rico’s fossil fuel-based electricity system, which the plaintiffs alleged would “necessarily prolong the archipelago’s dependence on fossil fuels and lock in years if not decades worth of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants that overburden nearby communities.” In addition, the complaint alleged that the environmental assessments did not consider how harms from climate change could disproportionately affect environmental justice communities. The complaint also cited climate change risks to endangered and threatened species.

Lawsuit alleging that FEMA and other defendants prepared flawed environmental assessments of the impacts of using federal disaster aid to repair, reconstruct, and relocate Puerto Rico’s fossil fuel-based electricity infrastructure after hurricanes.

Comité Dialogo Ambiental v. Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Plaintiffs Said FEMA Failed to Conduct Adequate Review of Environmental Impacts of Disaster Aid to Rebuild Fossil Fuel-Based Electricity Systems in Puerto Rico

Filed

United States of America

Puerto Rico

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

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A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

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Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

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Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

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Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Investment in electricity transmission and distribution systems capable of integrating renewable energy, supporting electrification and strengthening energy system resilience.

Technologies that capture and hold energy in reserve for later use.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

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People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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This sector provides medical services, manufactures medical equipment, and develops pharmaceuticals to maintain and improve health.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

Plaintiffs Said FEMA Failed to Conduct Adequate Review of Environmental Impacts of Disaster Aid to Rebuild Fossil Fuel-Based Electricity Systems in Puerto Rico

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance