Governor Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit February 13 against the Trump administration for halting federal funds, much of it for environment and climate-related programs. In a press release, Shapiro said state agencies cannot access nearly $1.3 billion in federal money, with an additional $900 million restricted pending what he calls an “unarticulated” administrative review.
“The federal government has entered into a contract with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, promising to provide billions of dollars in Congressionally-approved funding that we have committed to serious needs – like protecting public health, cutting energy costs, providing safe, clean drinking water, and creating jobs in rural communities,” Shapiro said. “With this funding freeze, the Trump Administration is breaking that contract.”
In late January, the Trump administration issued a memo freezing federal grants and loans to review whether spending on various issues, such as climate change, aligned with Trump’s executive orders. The memo was rescinded within days, but created widespread chaos and confusion, and federal agencies have continued to halt the money committed to many programs.
Filed in federal court in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania lawsuit calls the funding freeze “flagrantly lawless,” and states that federal agencies have no legal authority to unilaterally refuse to spend congressionally appropriated money over a policy disagreement.
In Pennsylvania, the frozen funds are largely from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, for programs to enhance the electric grid, plug old oil and gas wells and clean up abandoned coal mines, among others.
According to the lawsuit, the more than $3 billion over 15 years that has been allocated to the Department of Environmental Protection would reclaim approximately 24,000 acres of abandoned mine land, construction or maintenance of 16 water treatment systems that deal with toxic runoff from abandoned mines, and for responding to about 60 emergency events per year. So far, since 2022, Pennsylvania has received nearly $735 million.
Pennsylvania has the largest inventory of abandoned coal mines in the country and is receiving significantly more money than any other state for cleanups.
“Abandoned mine lands can cause land to cave in, which can be — and in recent months has been — fatal,” the lawsuit states. “Proactively repairing abandoned mine lands and responding to emergencies they cause is a critical public safety service.”
Funding as also been paused for funds committed to Pennsylvania from the Inflation Reduction Act, such as the nearly $260 million for energy rebate programs and $156 million for the Solar for All program to provide residential solar for low-income households and disadvantaged communities.
Pennsylvania lawsuit adds to cases against the Trump administration’s actions, including a suit filed last month by 22 states to stop trillions in funding from being shutdown, for everything from Medicaid to preschools to biomedical research.
“While multiple federal judges have ordered the Trump Administration to unfreeze this funding, access has not been restored,” Shapiro said, “leaving my Administration with no choice but to pursue legal action to protect the interests of the Commonwealth and its residents.”
‘No way to run a program’
For agencies and non-profits that rely on these funds to provide services, there’s been confusion and chaos, according to Jessica O’Neill, managing attorney for litigation for the non-profit group PennFuture.
“We’re hearing from organizations and agencies that, like day to day, they’re trying to figure out, ‘Can I access my funding? Can I not? Is it turned back on? Is it turned off?,’ Like it’s the confusion is real,” O’Neill said.
“Congress has appropriated these dollars; you can’t just shut down the way that the federal government interacts with states, with organizations, with taxpayers,” she said.
According to the lawsuit, nearly $400 million to decarbonize Pennsylvania’s industries, and funds to cap 500 abandoned oil and gas wells are currently restricted.
“The confusion is real,” O’Neill said. “And sowing this amount of confusion has a real impact, because that’s no way to run a program.”
