"The EPA’s internal watchdog is growing increasingly worried about hostile nations stealing sensitive information from groups that get agency funding, according to an official with the Inspector General’s office.
The threat is ramping up because the Environmental Protection Agency is sending tens of billions of dollars out the door in grants under the infrastructure and climate laws—often to groups that have never gotten grants from the EPA before and about whom relatively little is known, Jason Abend, assistant inspector general for investigations at the watchdog’s office, said in an interview.
For example, the EPA is sending $3 billion under the climate bill to environmental justice groups across the nation. The agency must issue the grants by Sept. 30, 2026.
“That’s a lot of money going to a lot of new, first-time recipients in a very quick fashion,” Abend said."
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