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Lane County says $19.5 million EPA grant for shelter HVAC upgrades terminated; staff to dispute
Summary
County Administrator Mokroyski told the Board of Commissioners that a $19.5 million EPA grant the county had executed in 2024 was terminated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The county drew down $105,000 after a portal briefly opened and plans to file a dispute; county counsel is evaluating legal options.
Lane County officials told the Board of Commissioners on May 6 that a $19,500,000 federal grant awarded and signed in 2024 for HVAC upgrades at local facilities intended to create emergency-shelter capacity has been terminated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"On Friday, May 2... we received a memo that that grant was terminated," County Administrator Mokroyski said. The grant had been designed in partnership with United Way of Lane County and six facility owners — the cities of Florence, Veneta, Cottage Grove, Oakridge, Bethel School District and the Willamette Park District — to retrofit HVAC systems with filtration and backup power to support emergency sheltering.
Mokroyski said the county had a signed grant agreement and that the award had been frozen or suspended since January. After a federal court order on April 23 directed agencies to open funding portals for certain frozen grants, Mokroyski said the portal opened April 29 and the county was able to draw down $105,000 to cover staff time and some supplies. "Following the termination memo that we received on May 2, our portal status... changed again to suspended," Mokroyski said.
The county intends to protest the termination and to file a letter of dispute. "We do have, before us a path in which we can dispute the EPA termination, and we intend to file a letter of dispute," Mokroyski said. Deputy County Counsel Mallory Beeb is handling litigation and is "looking into our options," county staff told the board.
County staff said they and local partners had advocated for the funds at the National Association of Counties conference and with the federal delegation and governor's office. Commissioners expressed frustration at the termination. "I'm actually quite disgusted with the federal administration that they would take this action," Commissioner Buck said, calling the planned upgrades "critical, life saving infrastructure in times of emergency." Commissioner Treager said the work also would have created local jobs and economic activity and described the termination as "deeply distressing."
County staff provided timeline and amounts: ballots for a separate elections item were mailed May 1 (staff said ballots should arrive by May 8), but for the grant item Mokroyski identified the grant start date in the system as March 1, 2025, and the county drew down $105,000 on April 29. Mokroyski said the termination memo was received May 2 and that the county portal status was changed to suspended after that memo. County Counsel staff later said the EPA terminations are part of a wider set of federal actions affecting similar grants nationwide; a county attorney noted a federal court in Rhode Island had issued a nationwide preliminary injunction ordering portals opened on April 23.
No final legal outcome was reported at the May 6 meeting. County staff said they would report back to the board about options and the county’s dispute process.
