Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency Press Release
Press release published by the City Attorney of San Francisco. View the original press release here.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced today that the City and County of San Francisco joined a coalition of nonprofits, Tribes and local governments in suing the Trump Administration for unlawfully terminating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) Grant Program despite a Congressional directive to fund them.
In the class action filed June 25, 2025, the Plaintiffs come from every region of the country and are seeking class action certification so that all 350 grant recipients who have been harmed by the wholesale termination of the EPA program may continue their projects.
“Climate change is an existential threat to humanity that cannot be ignored, and this funding is critical to help our communities address serious environmental issues,” said City Attorney Chiu. “Unlike the Federal Administration, San Francisco cares about our planet and has long been committed to environmental justice and stewardship. Once again, Trump is attempting to illegally terminate funding to promote his anti-environmental policies—all at the expense of our communities and our climate.”
“San Francisco leads by example with our commitment to transportation and sustainability,” said San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who serves as Chair of the Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency (TIMMA). “The loss of EPA grant funding for Treasure Island Connects threatens critical programs like the free on-island shuttle and bikeshare that would have improved mobility for the residents and helped us reduce emissions and improve air quality. By joining this lawsuit, we’re working to ensure that our communities continue to benefit from federal support that advances climate goals and invests in a healthier, more connected future.”
“San Francisco will always stand with our frontline communities because environmental justice is not optional,” said Tyrone Jue, Director of The San Francisco Environment Department. “Every neighborhood deserves clean air, a voice in solutions, and real investment to repair past harm. We’re proud to fight for that promise and we won’t shy away.”
“Unlawfully ending this program threatens the ability of local governments to protect their people and the environment,” said Jon Miller, Chief Program Officer, Public Rights Project. “This case isn’t just about restoring grant funding in a handful of places — it’s about restoring critical services and projects in areas of the country with the greatest need. We’re fighting alongside our partners to right the wrongs of the past and chart a healthier path forward for thousands of organizations, Tribes and communities.”
“Environmental justice grants were created to address the real harm to public health in communities of color and low wealth communities,” said SELC Litigation Director Kym Meyer. “No one voted for community-based organizations to get the rug pulled out from under them. This administration is using political rhetoric as an excuse to unlawfully take away money that Congress appropriated for these projects. This lawsuit will prove that in court.”
“Since his first days in office, the Trump administration has unlawfully withheld congressionally-mandated funds,” said Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “Terminating these grant programs caused widespread harm and disruption to on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity to tackle environmental harms. We won’t let this stand.”
“We are proud to stand alongside our partners and these plaintiffs to fight for the communities who have been unlawfully denied the resources Congress promised them. This is a blatant, illegal attempt to sidestep federal law and strip critical funding away from the communities who need it most,” said Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of the Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program at Lawyers for Good Government. “These grants were lawfully awarded, binding agreements, backed by clear Congressional authorization under the Inflation Reduction Act. The administration’s unconstitutional termination of these grants are not only destabilizing local projects addressing pollution, public health, and climate resilience, they violate core principles of administrative law and the separation of powers.”
Background
The EPA grants supported community-based initiatives that include improving natural disaster preparedness, expanding workforce development opportunities, improving and monitoring air quality, mitigating stormwater and flood damage, combating high energy costs, and improving the ability of local communities to participate in decision-making and permitting processes that impact their health and environment.
Earthjustice; Southern Environmental Law Center; Public Rights Project; Lawyers for Good Government; San Francisco; and King County, Washington, filed the challenge on behalf of ECJ grant recipients to seek the nationwide restoration of the program and to require the Administration to reinstate awarded grant agreements.
The ECJ Program was created by the Inflation Reduction Act under Clean Air Act Section 138 to award $3 billion in grants to community-based non-profits, Tribes, local governments, and higher education institutions in every state to tackle the climate crisis and environmental harms at the local level.
The grant-funded initiatives in urban and rural communities across the country include air quality monitoring, community pollution notification systems, tree planting in urban heat zones, lead pipe replacement in community drinking water systems, and resilience projects to strengthen communities against more frequent and intensifying extreme weather events.
In June 2024, the San Francisco Department of the Environment received a notice of award of a $1 million grant to San Francisco for a three-year project period under EPA’s Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program. SF Environment subsequently began work on the project but received notice in January 2025 that the grant funding was “paused.” On March 21, 2025, SF Environment received a notice from EPA stating that the grant was terminated “effective immediately.”
In November 2024, TIMMA received a $20 million grant from the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program for Treasure Island Connects, comprised of six complementary transportation projects that arose from a community-based planning process. TIMMA received a letter of termination from the EPA on May 1, 2025.
The case is Appalachian Voices, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:25-cv-01982. The complaint can be found here.