USDA Requires Unlawful New Conditions for Release of IRA Grant Funds to Farmers
Requiring significant changes after the fact to awarded projects is just as unlawful as simply withholding the funding
Contacts
Alexandria Trimble, atrimble@earthjustice.org
Last night, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it would release Congressionally appropriated funds for the Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) and others if the farmers rewrite their grant applications to fall in line with President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order. Farmers who were awarded REAP grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to install solar panels on their farms and improve energy efficiency have suffered irreparable harm while waiting for the Trump administration to uphold the federal government’s end of the grant agreement.
Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice, released the following statement in response:
“The only ‘opportunity’ for farmers in USDA’s disingenuous stunt is to formally deny already awarded grant funds instead of withholding them indefinitely. Farmers have taken on loans and spent thousands of dollars to install solar panels and pursue energy efficiency upgrades because they believed they would be paid back in line with their REAP agreement. President Trump and Secretary Rollins can’t change the rules of the game well into the second half. This is the definition of an arbitrary and capricious catch-22.”
Background
Earlier this month, Earthjustice sued the Trump administration for unlawfully withholding USDA grant funds appropriated by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The lawsuit, filed on behalf of nonprofits and small farmers who were awarded REAP grants, argues the Trump administration and USDA violated the Constitution’s separation of powers and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). USDA’s arbitrary and capricious actions were taken without consideration for the considerable harm they cause and without a reasonable explanation. The USDA’s attempt to change the grant agreement after they’ve been awarded is the latest illegal attempt to withhold funds appropriated by Congress for small farmers.
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