CHARLESTON, June 13 -- The federal program that was supposed to send $2.8 billion to communities living next to refineries, landfills and chemical plants was switched off in February 2025 by an executive order titled Unleashing American Energy. On Thursday, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency was not allowed to do that, and that the internal guidance it used to terminate the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program was arbitrary, capricious and unlawful.

The decision came from US District Judge Richard Mark Gergel, an Obama appointee in the District of South Carolina, in a case brought by a coalition of nonprofits and cities, NOTUS reported. The plaintiffs included Baltimore, Nash...