NEW YORK– Inclusiv has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Citibank, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against what it alleged is the EPA’s “baseless attempt to terminate a program created and funded by Congress. “
The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and comes in the wake of the Trump Administration’s numerous moves to halt funding for programs, even if Congress has already allocated the funding.
Inclusiv noted it is one of five Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) award recipients under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) that have been unable to draw Congressionally allocated funds for several weeks.
“EPA’s harmful actions to prevent Inclusiv and other GGRF awardees from deploying the funds are denying American families and small businesses access to affordable financing for clean energy upgrades of their choosing that will lower their rising energy bills,” the organization said in a statement.
‘Not Only About Inclusiv’
Added Inclusiv President and CEO Cathie Mahon in a statement, “Our decision to take legal action is not only about Inclusiv. This is about protecting the CCIA program and the interests of community lenders, families and small businesses who stand to benefit from the savings the program would provide to them.”
As the CU Daily has reported, Inclusiv was selected for a $1.87 billion award in April of 2024 after what it said was a “lengthy and rigorous competitive application and review process by the EPA.”
Three Goals
The funds were awarded under CCIA, one of three sub-programs under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) created through the Inflation Reduction Act. Inclusiv’s said its CCIA program is focused on “common-sense, bipartisan goals:”
- Increasing consumer choice and domestic energy generation
- Lowering consumers’ energy bills
- Spurring the creation of new jobs.
As the CU Daily has further reported, as part of its EPA-approved workplan, Inclusiv is acting as a pass-through for $1.683 billion (90% of its $1.87 billion award) in subawards to up to 400 credit unions across the country. To date, Inclusiv said it has committed $651 million to 108 selected credit unions located in 27 states and Puerto Rico but has not been able to disburse the funds held at Citibank “because of the EPA’s unlawful actions.”
‘Unsubstantiated Claims’
“Once the funds are unlocked, credit unions will deploy CCIA funding to support affordable clean energy lending and will leverage the funding, using private capital to multiply the impact of federal dollars,” Inclusiv said in its statement. “The EPA Administrator has made numerous unsubstantiated claims about waste, fraud and abuse to defend the EPA’s improper conduct. But Inclusiv has managed our CCIA program with integrity and care, carefully stewarding the federal funding we were awarded to advance the program goals documented in our EPA-approved workplan.
“Despite the controversy about GGRF in the press and on social media, we continue to meet weekly with our grant managers at EPA as part of our contractual obligations with the agency,” Inclusiv continued in its statement. “Additionally, we have been cooperating with all oversight inquiries, but our repeated requests to meet with the EPA Administrator have been ignored.”
‘Unmatched Record’
Inclusiv said in its statement that it has an unmatched track record of 50 years working with community development credit unions, regulated community lenders that serve low- and moderate-income Americans.
“In the last 40 years, our work has been instrumental in driving private and public investment in credit unions to build wealth and financial independence for individuals, households, and small businesses, in rural, underserved areas and communities excluded from the financial mainstream,” Inclusiv stated in announcing its new lawsuit. “We have for decades successfully worked with the federal government and credit union movement to responsibly and effectively deploy federal funding to advance a broad vision of economic opportunity and shared prosperity, including under the first Trump Administration. Our CCIA program is a natural continuation of this work, and we look forward to bringing its benefits to communities across America.”