Duckworth Slams Trump Administration’s Plans to Cancel Nearly a Billion Dollars in EPA Environmental Justice Grants, Putting the Health of Low-Income Communities and Families At Risk
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—founding co-chair of the Senate’s Environmental Justice Caucus—issued the following statement after a court filing revealed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to cancel nearly one billion dollars in environmental justice grants issued under the Biden Administration to 781 awardees across the country. These previously-approved grants help communities get the lead out of our kids’ drinking water, clean up dangerous toxins, protect against floods and wildfires, address the ongoing effects of legacy pollution—such as higher cancer, asthma and death rates—and more:
“Contrary to the Trump Administration’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ mantra, this move will make America sicker for generations to come,” Duckworth said. “Donald Trump is willing to devastate the long-term health and livelihood of communities across the country to make his billionaire buddies richer—it’s beyond despicable. I’m outraged, and I’m going to keep doing everything in my power to push back against this Administration’s cruel agenda to deteriorate the health and safety of millions just to put even more money in the ultra-wealthy’s pockets.”
These grants are part of the $3 billion in funding that Duckworth and fellow Senate Environmental Justice Caucus co-chair Cory Booker (D-NJ) successfully secured in the historic Inflation Reduction Act—the first time that environmental justice community grant funding has been authorized to EPA.
Additionally, Duckworth led the charge in the U.S. Senate to remove lead drinking water pipes across the country. Her Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA), which was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is the most significant federal investment in water infrastructure in history, including $15 billion for national lead service line replacement. DWWIA, which focuses on disadvantaged communities, is helping rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure and enable communities to repair and modernize their failing wastewater systems.
Last month, Duckworth and Booker condemned the Trump Administration for shutting down all of EPA’s environmental justice offices and slashing over 30 EPA regulations that have helped protect our nation’s public health and the environment for decades. In February, Duckworth and Booker—along with U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)—urged EPA Administrator Zeldin to reopen the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), which Duckworth and Booker led the charge to create. Duckworth also recently helped introduce legislation that would permanently codify the Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) in response to Attorney General Bondi’s order eliminating all environmental justice efforts at the DOJ.
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