The fate of $10.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant meant to help Evanston implement the Healthy Buildings Ordinance is still up in the air.
During the May 8 meeting of the Environment Board, Evanston Sustainability and Resilience Manager Cara Pratt said last month’s ruling by the a U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island ordered the federal government to unfreeze grants issued under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But the city hasn’t actually received the grant yet. Pratt said the Department of Energy told Evanston it was still reviewing the grants.
She also flagged recent reports that EPA is planning to eliminate the Energy Star program, which was launched in 1992 to certify energy-efficient appliances. Pratt said it would blow a hole in the city’s Benchmarking Ordinance, which requires larger buildings to report their energy usage. The buildings must report their data using the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager online application, and if the program goes away, so does the application.
IRA grant
The Evanston Healthy Buildings Ordinance, which the city approved earlier this year, sets a goal for 500 of the city’s largest buildings to be energy efficient, free of on-site emissions and powered entirely by renewable energy sources by 2050. It most notably requires the buildings to transition away from using natural gas. The $10.4 million grant, which was approved during the Biden Administration, was to be used to hire extra staff to help with developing specific rules and implementation, help buildings navigate financing sources and establish an equity basis for applying the ordinance to the city’s 500 biggest buildings.
The second Trump Administration has been aggressively freezing previously Congressional approved funding for a wide array of programs. When courts ruled that the funding must be distributed, the administration often slow-walked, if not outright defied, the orders.
On April 15, Judge Mary McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, ordered federal agencies to unfreeze the grants issued under the Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. She found that, while presidents are entitled to enact their agendas, “agencies do not have unlimited authority to further a President’s agenda, nor do they have unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity two statutes passed by Congress during the previous administration.”
Pratt told the Environment Board that, around two weeks earlier, the Department of Energy informed the city that they were “still evaluating the awards” to ensure that they comply with department directives. The city hasn’t heard anything since then.
No need for panic yet
Pratt said, in addition to getting rid of the reporting portal, the end of the Energy Star program would hurt the city’s own efforts to become more energy efficient. It would also affect the Healthy Buildings Ordinance’s enforcement, since it requires building owners to buy Energy Star-certified appliances.
Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th Ward), who was an Environment Board member until committee placements were reassigned at the start of the new City Council term, said the city shouldn’t panic just yet.
“This [change] is just proposed and not yet final,” he said. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
In the meantime, the city is still working on filling the two advisory bodies the Healthy Building Ordinance established. The Healthy Building Technical Committee will develop the details of the actual rules, while the Healthy Buildings Accountability Board (HBAB) will review how those rules are implemented and recommend changes. The technical committee is temporary — it will automatically dissolve within 12 months after its first meeting unless the city council extends the term.
Under the benchmarking ordinance, the accountability board must have nine members, with at least six appointed by Evanston’s mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The members must reflect city demographics and “possess expertise in racial and social equity, housing, climate action, affordability, preservation, and/or environmental justice.” At least five members must be Evanstonians — something that Pratt previously said was added to make sure that experts who have Evanston connections but don’t live in the city wouldn’t be excluded.
The technical committee must have six members, three nominated by groups representing covered building owners and three Evanston residents appointed by the mayor. The ordinance specifically says that the three members nominated by the building owner groups can sit on the HBAB as well, but these members can decline and be replaced by additional mayoral appointees. Tech committee members must “possess technical expertise in areas related to buildings, energy systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical engineering, electrification, building science, or energy management.” Like the accountability board, the members will get stipends for attending meetings.
Nieuwsma told the Environment Board that the technical committee already has five applicants, while the accountability board has nine applicants.
Officials: Federal policy changes may threaten future of Healthy Buildings Ordinance is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.