These are recommendations compiled from a range of organizations including Lawyers for Good Government and Environmental Protection Network. 

• Address the status of your drawdown:
  • Check your agency drawdown portal 
  • If your funding is currently missing or suspended from ASAP or if you were otherwise denied a drawdown, it is important to document all of your efforts to legally draw down funding from your ASAP account and to build your administrative record. 
    • Email your Program Officer, now. You can use this email template, adding details relevant to your specific grant (including actual harm on the ground). If you have legal counsel, we recommend that you consult with them to help refine the email template and get tailored legal advice for your situation. For assistance, please reach out to EPN. 
    • AND, report that you are locked out by filling out Lawyers for Good Government’s fund protection clinic intake form so they can track this violation and reach out to you about potential next steps.
    • If your ASAP account says that your funds are in “warehousing,” please send an email to info@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org with the subject “warehousing,” and include screenshots of your ASAP account now and before if you have them. We’re not 100% sure this is an issue (especially for those with a start date in the future), but we do not know for sure.  

• Once your access to funding has been restored, consider trying to get as much of your funding properly and legally drawn down as quickly as possible. 
  • As always, make sure you are 100% clear on your award obligations and that you remain 100% in compliance.
  • Remember, for most grants, you will need to spend these funds within 5 days (payroll, purchases, etc.).
  • Do not draw down funds improperly. If you have questions about a potential drawdown, please fill out our Request Form so our contractors can provide pro bono assistance to you on these matters.

• Contact your representatives – https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
  • Consider reaching out to your elected officials and educating them on the benefits your project will provide to their constituents and complement state investment, especially in terms of jobs, stimulating the economy, energy independence, decreased exposure to pollution, etc. 
  • Consider inviting them to visit your site/proposed site and/or meeting with partners. 
  • If you need pro bono assistance with this, please go to this website for an email address

• Keep moving forward and stay in compliance

• • Some say the best way to respond to unsubstantiated attacks is to successfully, legally, and properly implement your project. If you can, proceed with your work! This is highly dependent on your ability to take on the likelihood of slower reimbursement and risk. 
  • Make sure your finances are in order. If you are an EPA grant program awardee, or you know someone who is, please reach out to Kathy Pope at EPN for information on our training on financial management. We will spend the first half on the training and the second half in breakout rooms by grant.
  • Review L4GG’s Guidance Brief for information on common questions associated with grants and tax credits and tips for how you can stay in compliance.

• Continue to reach out to your Program Officer.
  • If your PO has been terminated or put on administrative leave, email the person whose name is on their out of office, if there is one. If not, please check on EPA’s system (go to our website for the link) in a few days to see if you have been assigned a new PO. If this issue persists, please reach out to info@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org to get advice on who else you can reach out to.

• If you are “in limbo” please make sure EPN knows! 
  • For example, please tell us if you have been selected but have not received your award or your award was signed but not emailed to you. Consider contacting elected officials and tell them the value of these grant programs generally.
  • If you’re waiting to enter an agreement on an award, or were in the middle of finalizing documents, check the status of your award (check EPA), and contact EPN, they have folks that get provide support to get everything ready for when EPA opens things up again. 
  • EPN has created specific resources, office hours and learning cohorts, for selectees of:
    • Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grants 
    • Community Change Grants 
    • Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s Solar for All 
  • For 1:1 technical assistance from the EPN & L4GG, please complete this form. This includes help applying to the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers Program.

• If you have received a grant termination notice from EPA, and we are not already in communication about this, please reach out.

• • Please reach out to info@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org and please include a copy of your termination letter, any other recent correspondence from EPA, and a copy of your terms and conditions.

• Gather stories of impacts from inability to drawdown funds (see below)
  • The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is actively tracking how any pause on federal funding is impacting Native communities. If your community is affected, please share your experiences and concerns by sending a confidential email to ▶️ oversight@indian.senate.gov
  • Fill out Lawyers for Good Government’s fund protection clinic intake form 
  • Submit stories Climate Power
  • Submit stories to Atlas Public Policy
  • Submit stories to Lilette Advisors
  • National Association of Nonprofits
  • Congressional Offices collecting reports of pauses in aid
    • Jared Huffman (CA’s 2nd District)
• Other sources of Legal support – see Fedforward workbook
• Identify opportunities to connect and collaborate with coalition leaders positioned to file litigation – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QePddU-bdXiO3jVuxpS2jq5dFKFS1vfGfHS3vdHloio/edit?tab=t.z53ailku440
• Reach out to your local and regional foundations and private donors to inquire about emergency funds to help weather a stopgap in funding
• Check programs you’re tracking against this OMB list – https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q7w3u7uaopc2g32v6ant0/20250128-Documentation-Request-Pausing-Federal-Financial-Assistance.pdf?rlkey=f363iq8d0hvq7zj3c8um1vdqc&dl=0

• Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG): If you are a grantee or subawardee of a federal program through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) with legal questions about protecting your funds, please feel free to submit your question to L4GG. Visit the website to fill out L4GG’s intake form.
• EPN, L4GG, NRDC and other partners host regular webinars on issues and topics of interest for current federal funding awardees. Register here for the next meeting (February 26)
  • You are welcome to watch the recording of a recent webinar on the Financial Management Best Practices Handbook here.
• EPN, L4GG, NRDC and other partners host regular webinars on issues and topics of interest for current federal funding awardees. Register here for the next meeting (February 26)
• Environmental Protection Network
• CCEC’s CA Energy & Climate Federal Developments Huddle (currently weekly)
• CCEC’s Local Energy Resources Network: Sign up for our LERN meetings where we will continue to bring in speakers and facilitate discussion and sharing to help us monitor the situation

• You are welcome to watch the recording of our February 11 meeting featuring excellent guidance Lawyers for Good Government https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-FDDrPu_RA

• National Grant Foundation: Information for Non-Profits Amid Federal Grant Suspensions

• Anonymously collected from CA Energy & Climate Practitioners on 1/31/2025
• Congressional Offices collecting reports of pauses in aid
  • Jared Huffman (CA’s 2nd District)

EPA

Whitehouse, Blunt Rochester Lead EPW Democrats in Demanding EPA Reverse Unlawful Termination of Grants for Clean Air and Water 

• List of 400 programs targeted for termination

Informal updates from grantees on programs affected…

•  Clean Ports
•  Climate Pollution Reduction Grants – General
  • Planning Draws happening; Implementation Grants being Executed
•  Climate Pollution Reduction Grants – Tribes and Territories’
  • Planning Draws happening; Implementation Grants being Executed
•  Enhanced Community Air Quality Monitoring
•  Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants
•  Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement
•  Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Cooperative Agreement
•  Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers
•  Green Bank 50
•  Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All
  • CEC/CPUC tribal listening session
•  Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund National Clean Investment Fund
  • Coalition for Green Capital 
  • The Native CDFI Network: received $400m from the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator via EPA – their funds had been frozen via DOJ investigation and order to Citibank – apparently unfrozen now.
• Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Clean Communities Investment Accelerator
• Community Change Grant
  • Awarded Community Change grants suspended, now on EPA list; no formal notification to date
• Thriving Communities Grantmakers Program
  • Thriving Communities Grantmakers for Region 9 submission portal still active
•  Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers
  • TCTACS: CCEEJ received termination of award notification – disputing
• Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles
  • Grant paused then unpaused. Now awaiting SCAQMD approval, When this is done, EPA must still have the funds available.  This is not guaranteed bc of EJ grant component

DOE

• HEERHA 
  • CEC/TECH Clean CA resumed processing approved reservations
• EECBG 
  • Reports of awardees successfully drawing down funds and moving ahead
  • Equipment Voucher – correspondence to proceed with grant have been sent to a few jurisdiction. Responses are a little too simple/vague
• DOE Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize 
  • The website disappeared right before phase 1 deadline still down
• GRIP 1 
  • Starting to unpause, GRIP 2 still under evaluation
  • Latest from NETL about 40101(d) is that they’re continuing program management for awards in place FY22-24, but still no update on the FY25 release.
• Adoption for the latest Zero Energy Codes 
  • In limbo, waiting for final contract (have conditional agreement) $10M
  • Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) pulled all their NOFOs offline for “review”
• Community Power Accelerator Prize Grant
  • Still in pending status

OTHER

• USDA Rural Development 
  • Removed all DEIA scoring criteria from 14 federal programs
  • REAP, New ERA, PACE – 30 days to inform USDA whther they want to propose modifications

• Federal Highway Administration grants for EV infrastructure
  • Were to be passed through via CalTrans 
  • Not clear CalTrans got into contract in time
• FEMA BRIC 
  • NOFO missing – still possible to apply (4/18)
• BIA Tribal Resilience
  • Some grants missing

DOT

• Transportation projects, including for EV Chargers (*ID programs)

NSF: Emailed grantees that its payment portal was live again (Feb 2, 2025)

MESSAGE to the NSF PI Community,

On Friday, January 31, 2025, a Federal Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) directing Federal grant-making agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), to “…not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate… awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the States, and… not impede the States’ access to such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.” Although the language of the TRO is directed at State institutions, the Department of Justice has determined that it applies to all NSF award recipients. You can review the TRO here.

In order to comply with the TRO, the NSF Award Cash Management Service (ACM$) system is available for awardees to request payments as of 12:00pm EST, February 2, 2025. 

This message is also available on the Executive Order Implementation webpage.  Please check back regularly as we add frequently asked questions (FAQs) based on community feedback.