Federal money trickles back to Colorado after Trump’s funding freeze is lifted

The people in charge of administering a $200 million federal grant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings across the Denver region felt relief Wednesday after the Environmental Protection Agency reopened the portal that allows recipients to file receipts to be reimbursed for their work.

After weeks of uncertainty and zero communication from the EPA, the portal opened Wednesday morning without notification — almost a month after President Donald Trump attempted to freeze federal spending.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments quickly filed receipts for $120,000 it spent in January on its building decarbonization program, said Chris Selk, communications program manager for the council.

“It’s on our list of things to do every day to log on and see if we can access it,” Selk said. “Today we struck gold. We have no idea if it’s temporary or permanent or what. It is frustrating and challenging for us to be put in this position.”

The grant was one of several that are funneling about $640 million into Colorado for clean water, pollution reduction and reimbursement programs to encourage homeowners to electrify their houses and use solar panels. The EPA said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that funding was now accessible to all recipients of grants awarded through the Inflation Recovery Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments’ experience illustrates how uncertainty and chaos have impacted projects that rely on federal funding since Trump issued a Jan. 27 memo to freeze all federal spending. It also shows how some of the president’s broad, abrupt orders are not holding up under judicial scrutiny and protest from the people they affect.

Multiple states, including Colorado, filed a lawsuit almost immediately after Trump last month announced that all federal spending would be suspended by 3 p.m. the following day. A judge issued a temporary restraining order and then two days later, on Jan. 29, the federal Office of Management and Budget rescinded Trump’s order.

Still, it took weeks for the financial spigot to be turned back on.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments received the grant last year through the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction program, which was funded by the bipartisan 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The grant will help people living in a nine-county region to live in more efficient homes that are powered by electricity rather than natural gas. The grant would be used to develop policies to help reach net zero emissions for buildings, provide rebates and incentives for homeowners, especially those in low income communities, to retrofit their homes and to train workers to carry out the work, said Robert Spotts, the council’s building decarbonization program manager.

The goal was to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions along the Front Range, which is in severe violation of federal air quality standards, and to help the state reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050, based on 2005 levels.

So far, the regional council has spent about $500,000, but it is hiring more people to carry out the work, Spotts said.

After the president’s order, communication from the EPA was cut off, he said.

On Feb. 7, Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet sent a letter to Russell Vaught, the new head of the Office of Management and Budget, imploring him to release more than $570 million in obligated funding that Colorado recipients could not access.

State officials were trying to determine Wednesday how much of that had become accessible.

The EPA said portals for funding through the Inflation Recovery Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act started reopening on Feb. 11, one day after a federal judge found the White House was not following his order to release the money, and most were back online by Friday, according to an emailed statement from Taylor Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the EPA’s Region 8 office in Denver.

Once receipts for expenditures connected to a grant are filed, it typically takes two days for the money to be sent, Spotts said. He and Selk are hopeful that is the case this time.

“These executive orders the administration is putting forth do not leave a lot of room for nuance,” Selk said. “In truth, our grant is funding economic development in the region. It’s funding jobs. It’s funding innovation. And a reduction in greenhouse gases makes for better health for 60% of Colorado through this grant, including the one in 12 kids who have asthma in the region alone.

“That’s what people need to be aware of when we talk about these funds being frozen.”

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