SPRINGFIELD — The fight for clean air continues as Springfield is one of many listed in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the president’s recent termination of Environmental Protection Agency grants.
The city joined several other nonprofits, tribes and local governments in suing the administration for what they say is an unlawful termination of the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Grant programs “despite a congressional directive to fund them.”
Earthjustice, Southern Environmental Law Center, the Public Rights Project, and Lawyers for Good Government filed the challenge on behalf of ECJ grant recipients to seek the restoration of the nationwide program and to require the reinstatement of awarded grant agreements, according to a press release from Earthjustice.
The 23 plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit are seeking to restore the $3 billion that was promised to “community-driven” projects across the country. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is the defendant in the case.
According to court documents, the case is being taken up at the U.S. District Court level.
“EPA’s termination of the program is unlawful,” the lawsuit reads. “It violates bedrock separation-of-powers principles by effectively repealing a congressional enactment and impounding funds based on nothing more than the President’s disagreement with policies Congress duly enacted.”
The Environmental and Climate Justice Program was created by former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act under Clean Air Act Section 138 to award $3 billion in grants to community-based nonprofits, according to Earthjustice.
Springfield was supposed to receive $20 million of that money to fund a community solar project, complete home rehabilitation projects, plant 1,500 trees throughout the city and retrofit 30 one-to-four-unit homes to improve indoor air quality.
Additionally, the money would support a workforce development program for HVAC-R technicians and convert two city-owned buildings to non-grid clean energy sources while expanding their use as community resilience hubs and emergency shelter locations.
According to Springfield City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti, Springfield was the only community in the state to receive such an award.
But that money and other grants were eliminated across the country in early 2025 as part of Trump’s efforts to downsize the role of the federal government in energy and environmental spaces.
“The city of Springfield was left with no recourse but to sue the federal government to enforce the $20 million EPA grant,” said Buoniconti. “We are pleased to partner with … the Public Rights Council and others in filing the lawsuit to recover the grant monies.”
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking class action certification and preliminary relief so that all 350 grant recipients harmed by the termination can continue their “community-based initiatives.”
Buoniconti said the Public Rights Project is representing Springfield “at no cost to the taxpayer.”
“Unlawfully ending this program threatens the ability of local governments to protect their people and the environment,” said Jon Miller, chief program officer for the Public Rights Project. “This case isn’t just about restoring grant funding in a handful of places — it’s about restoring critical services and projects in areas of the country with the greatest need.”
In Springfield’s case, the elimination of this money would likely be a lethal blow to a city that was dubbed the “asthma capital of the country” in 2019, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and was named the fourth most challenging place to live with asthma as of 2024.
Furthermore, Springfield also lost out on a $1 million grant from EPA for asthma prevention support, and the City Council is currently appealing a recent ruling by the Massachusetts Appeals Court that gives more life to a controversial biomass plant proposal by Palmer Renewable Energy: tinyurl.com/54ad2896.
Despite the dour outlook, Buoniconti remains optimistic about retaining the EPA money.
“Gradual improvements have been made to asthma and lead exposure rates and the grant will benefit the health of every resident of the city,” Buoniconti said. “We are optimistic that the Public Rights Council will best represent the city’s interests.”
