The Stakes: Excitement turns to anxiety in North Richmond after Trump moves to freeze big EPA grant

“The Stakes” is a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders affecting Californians and their communities. 

Contra Costa County should be celebrating a $19 million federal grant it was awarded for environmental projects in North Richmond. But county officials and community groups are being cautious, after the promised funding was nearly frozen in January by a Trump executive order. 

The North Richmond Community Resilience Initiative was one of 105 projects selected by the Environmental Protection Agency for the Community Change Grant Program, which funds local projects that aim to reduce pollution, improve climate resilience and tackle environmental justice in disadvantaged communities. 

“From where I stand, we haven’t had this scale of investment in North Richmond for over three decades,” said Doria Robinson, executive director of Urban Tilth, one of the collaborating organizations. 

Funded through the Inflation Reduction Act passed during the Biden administration, the awards total nearly $1.6 billion, making the program the largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history, according to the EPA.

For North Richmond, the opportunity has been a long time coming. And while the EPA says the money is now available, its abrupt pause remains a cause for concern. 

“It took a year to put that grant together and go through all the work to do it. Then to be one of the very, very few of the nation to even get the award, and then have it snatched away would be very painful,” Robinson said. 

It appeared that could happen when, on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which called for pausing the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act, among other appropriations. 

The county had not yet received the money and concern grew that it could be withdrawn. Over a month and multiple court orders later, the grant was freed up, but even after that, the EPA was still listing the grant’s status as “suspended.” Fear remains that the Trump administration can still take it away.

“I can tell you with 100% certainty, this is confusing across the country,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who represents Richmond. “This is not just a Richmond or Contra Costa issue. And the federal government knows what it’s doing — it is intentionally withholding federal dollars.”

EPA Region 9 press officer Michael Brogan declined Richmond Confidential’s request for an interview, saying the EPA had put a pause on interviews, given the change in administration, but that emailed questions could be addressed. 

Asked in an email about the whereabouts of the grant money, the timeline for disbursement and how the EPA had communicated with Contra Costa County officials about the grant, the press office responded Feb. 21 with a single sentence: “EPA worked expeditiously to enable payment accounts for [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] and IRA grant recipients, so funding is now accessible to all recipients.”

Contra Costa County applied for the grant in September with community organizations, including Urban Tilth, The Watershed Project, and the Richmond Land and Community Housing Development Corp. The initiative envisioned several community development projects to improve the environment, health and overall quality of life in North Richmond.

With the grant funding, the county and partnering organizations intend to plant trees in the Verde Elementary schoolyard, provide zero-emission transportation through an e-bike lending library, and continue restoration of the Wildcat Creek watershed and trail. 

Additionally, the initiative will support the construction of energy-efficient housing, the retrofitting of 40 homes to be fully electric, and the creation of a community resilience center at the North Richmond Farm. 

The center will be a gathering place for community members during disasters and extreme weather events, and it will also host emergency preparedness training sessions. 

The initiative needs the grant to get started. 

In a Dec. 12 news release announcing the awards, the EPA stated it was “on track to obligate the majority of selected Community Change grants by January 2025.” 

On Jan. 6, the EPA signed a grant agreement with Contra Costa County, and on Jan. 23, the county received an email from an EPA financial specialist saying its registration was complete. The email indicated that the funds would be accessible in roughly 10 business days. 

Following the Jan. 20 executive order, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Jan. 27 saying a freeze on trillions of dollars in federal spending would begin at 5 p.m. eastern time on Jan. 28, in order to conduct an ideological review of grants and loans. 

“The reason for this is to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken,” Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said at a Jan. 28 news conference.

That same day, a U.S. district judge in Baltimore blocked the executive order. Despite this, the attempted freeze has had lingering impacts. 

Gioia said he had heard from the National Association of Counties that agencies were slow-walking or not fully releasing federal grant money.

“Our project specifically improves the lives of North Richmond residents,” Gioia said. “We think it should not come under any of the executive orders, but everything is unclear.” 

What if the funds are shut off?

According to Gioia, Contra Costa County didn’t receive any communication from the EPA or the White House around the time the freeze was threatened. However, when county officials checked the status of the grant online in late January, it was marked “suspended,” and it stayed that way for weeks.

Two weeks after the freeze was supposed to go into effect, the EPA still had not communicated the reason for the North Richmond grant’s “suspended” status or when the money would become accessible to the county. 

The EPA did not respond to Richmond Confidential’s follow-up question about why Contra Costa County’s account status temporarily was changed to suspended.

By Feb. 21, the grant’s status had changed to “open.” Kristi Jourdan, Contra Costa County spokesperson, said the county has submitted a reimbursement request and recently acquired the requested funds. 

As the county takes its first steps on the project, there is trepidation about proceeding, because the grant process requires the county to spend the money upfront and then be reimbursed.

“We really worry about moving forward on many of the projects that have to do with construction,” Robinson said. 

The county can’t begin the project until the money has been secured, Gioia explained. “Local government doesn’t have the funding to backfill loss of federal funding,” he said. 

Given the Trump administration’s abrupt moves, Robinson worries that the funds could become frozen after the county has spent its own money on the project. 

“If something happens and the funds are shut off again, and we spend that money upfront and are not paid back, then that would leave ourselves, the county, everyone in a really bad situation,” she said. 

This story was published in collaboration with Richmondside.

Residents brainstorm about how to transform Richmond’s economy for a better life

This story was published in collaboration with Richmondside.