Judge orders Citibank to release nonprofit funds, rejects EPA’s arguments

A federal judge Tuesday found the Environmental Protection Agency acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when terminating contracts with three nonprofits. The judge issued a temporary restraining order that requires the EPA and Citibank to give nonprofits access to funds in their accounts. The restraining order is the latest development in a lawsuit brought by three nonprofits that were recipients of grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in 2022. The EPA asked Citibank to freeze the accounts over alleged concerns about waste, fraud, and conflicts of interest. The judge found the EPA’s claims “vague and unsubstantiated.” The EPA’s termination letters “vaguely reference ‘multiple ongoing investigations’ into ‘programmatic waste, fraud, and abuse and conflicts of interest’ but offer no specific information about such investigations, factual support for the decision, or an individualized explanation for each [of the no ... Read full article.