A nearly $200 million federal grant aimed at boosting climate action throughout Oregon is currently frozen — for now. It’s causing uncertainty throughout state agencies that worked together to help win the competitive award and say they are unsure if and when the federal funds would become accessible.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday at least six federal grants awarded to the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost current climate action programs are currently frozen.

Among them is Oregon’s biggest award — the $197 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant the state was awarded last summer.

“What we’re experiencing is that we can’t draw funds from certain accounts for our grants,” DEQ’s Communications Manager Lauren Wirtis said.

Wirtis said there have been three key moments when federal funding awarded to the state through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have been frozen, unfrozen and frozen again. She said the first was the Trump administration’s executive order on Jan. 20 that froze all climate funding from those two laws, which included the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant.

“The second one was the Office of Management and Budget memo that froze funds much more broadly and then that got pulled back,” she said. “And then most recently, the Environmental Protection Agency has frozen grants pending a compliance review. So that’s where we end up with grants that are currently in limbo.”

According to Wirtis, the agency received several memos from the Environmental Protection Agency about pausing different grant programs. The most recent memo DEQ received about federal funds was on Jan. 27.

It stated, “EPA is working diligently to implement President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order issued on January 20 in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget. The agency has paused all funding actions related to the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act at this time. EPA is continuing to work with OMB as they review processes, policies, and programs, as required by the Executive Order.”

For now, Wirtis said, any work related to these programs is paused.

“We don’t currently have any information or indication from the federal government about when the freeze would go away or if it will go away,” she said.

The continued confusion from the federal government about whether funding from two of the nation’s billion-dollar climate action laws is available, is causing a lot of uncertainty for state agencies, as well as climate and environmental advocates who also supported these federal grants for Oregon.

As of now, it’s unclear which federal climate programs are frozen either through an executive order — in limbo because of litigation to unfreeze those funds — or frozen through the EPA current compliance review.

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On Monday, a federal judge issued an enforcement order that the Trump administration release the federal funds. But it’s unclear whether the administration will comply.

As of Thursday morning, Oregon Department of Energy staff told OPB that the Solar For All Grant, nearly $87 million to boost solar adoption for low-income and rural Oregonians, is also “suspended.”

There are no further details, a spokesperson said, as the situation is fluid.

At DEQ, Wirtis said if the agency does not get the money from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, “the clearest thing is that we just aren’t able to do the things that we outlined in that application.”

The funds were awarded under a reimbursement basis, Wirtis said. That means DEQ has to spend the money first and then wait to get reimbursed by the federal government. The agency cannot risk paying out large amounts of funding if it might not be repaid, she said. To give some perspective, Wirtis said $197 million is about half of DEQ’s biennial operating budget.

“We have an ongoing assessment of understanding what we are going to do if funds remain frozen, for however long they might remain frozen for,” Wirtis said. “So right now, there isn’t a lot we can do other than understand the situation, and we are certainly coordinating with the governor’s office, who is working with the attorney general, and they’re leading that front. But outside of that, there is not anything that the agency can do to sort of change the situation that we are in.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek did not respond in time for a request for comment.

According to a work plan Oregon submitted to the EPA in March, the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant would focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s biggest sectors — transportation, buildings and waste and materials management. That would include rebate programs for medium to heavy-duty trucks, heat pump incentives, residential weatherization and food waste infrastructure.

The grant would also boost current state programs, like the electric vehicle rebate program, which has run out of funding two years in a row due to its popularity.

But the grant funds would do much more than reduce emissions, said Nora Apter, Oregon director at nonprofit Climate Solutions.

“We’re in the decisive decade for climate action, and prioritizing investments in clean energy and community resilience is absolutely key — not only to making progress on fighting climate change, but making our communities stronger and healthier as we continue to experience climate extremes,” she said.

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Apter said the federal investments are vital to addressing air pollution caused by greenhouse gas emissions, but also to creating more jobs in Oregon as well as helping lower energy costs. Many Oregonians are paying at least 50% more on their energy bills than they did five years ago.

“It’s really important to know our state agencies and Gov. Kotek planned their 2025 budget based on the expectation that this committed federal funding would come through,” she said. “So denying Oregon these investments would blow essentially a $200 million dollar hole in our budget.”

The funds would also boost investments in communities hit hardest by climate change, Apter said. That includes low-income communities, communities of color and rural communities.

“What we’ve seen in the first three weeks of the Trump administration, is the federal government has made clear it’s not a priority to fight climate change. It’s not a priority to protect clean air and water, and it’s not a priority to protect the health and safety of our communities from climate extremes,” Apter said. “We know that climate justice is a core Oregon value, and we hope and expect the state to step in to fill the gaps if this funding does not come through.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/13/oregon-federal-climate-grants-frozen/