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Evansville Collaborative: $20 million EPA transportation grant terminated again, projects on hold
Summary
The Evansville Climate Collaborative reported the U.S. EPA has twice terminated a $20 million Community Change grant for local clean-transportation projects; staff say projects are suspended while they seek alternate funding and await litigation outcomes.
Lauren Norvell, director of the Evansville Climate Collaborative, told board members on April 15 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has twice terminated the Collaborative’s $20,000,000 Community Change grant for clean transportation projects, leaving the planned projects on hold.
Norvell said the first termination was rescinded a week later because the agency’s stated termination grounds did not match the grant terms, but EPA issued a second termination afterward. “We will follow the news and watch actions taking place across the nation,” Norvell said, adding that she and the mayor have been working with a federal lobbyist and the city’s congressman. “We don't anticipate any voluntary actions to change that outcome.”
The Collaborative’s staff described ongoing national litigation involving other grantees; Norvell said Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice appear to be representing multiple grantees in a class-action-style suit, and that “it'll take some time for that to work through the courts.” For now, she said, “Those projects are not happening until we find other grant sources, funding sources, sponsorships, etcetera.”
The board was not presented with a definitive legal outcome or timeline at the meeting. Norvell said staff will seek alternate funding and pursue projects individually as new sources become available. She emphasized the termination is a setback for work the team had put into the grant. “It's very disappointing because we, the team, has put a lot of work into getting that grant and, so now I've gotta do double the work to try to get those projects funded in Evansville,” she said.
The Collaborative did not state whether any contract obligations or matching funds were already committed locally nor whether particular projects had advanced to procurement or construction; those details were “not specified” at the meeting. Norvell also noted the outcome could change if courts or federal processes reverse the termination but did not predict a timeline.
The board did not take formal action on the issue at the April meeting; Norvell said staff and the mayor will continue outreach to alternative funders and monitor litigation.
The termination affects locally planned clean-transportation projects financed through the Community Change grant; the Collaborative said it is pursuing other options, including smaller, project-by-project fund-raising and grant applications.
