WASHINGTON—Saying it is responding to “inaccurate and misleading comments” from an environmental group regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to distribute money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (GHGR) Fund to credit unions, NAFCU has sent the agency a “legal analysis” that seeks to counter those claims.
NAFCU noted that last month it provided comment to the EPA on the GHGR Fund as it works to disburse $27 billion provided under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to provide grants for zero-emission technologies, and financial and technical assistance for projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution.
The new letter from the trade association was accompanied by a “detailed legal memorandum” regarding the fund’s statute that flags the Coalition for Green Capital has made “erroneous claims” – at least 50 times in filings to the EPA and the Environmental Financial Advisory Board – that there is a directive for the EPA to establish and capitalize a single, national green bank to disburse GHGR Fund monies, according to NAFCU.
‘Considerable Discretion’
In the letter, NAFCU VP-Regulatory Affairs Ann Petros wrote that legal interpretation of the section indicates the EPA has “considerable discretion and latitude to adopt and implement a broader and more accommodating framework that will allow various other eligible recipients and qualified organizations to apply for and secure grants.”
Petros added that it “makes no reference to a national green bank but instead directs the EPA to make grants to ‘eligible recipients’ on a ‘competitive basis.’”