Trump EPA Ends Exorbitant Pay-Outs to Litigious Environmental Nonprofits
Since 2013, millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees have been awarded to entities, usually nonprofits, to resolve environmental law litigation against the federal government. New data collected via Freedom of Information Act shows that in the first year of the Trump administration, environmental attorney fee pay outs have seen record lows.
As Open the Books has reported in the past, these fees are often part of “sue-and-settle” schemes where environmental nonprofits friendly to a presidential administration (typically Democratic) will sue the federal government to initiate a back-door rule making process that can exclude Congress and the public.
Attorney fees are paid when the federal government settles or loses a case; a rule created to assure successful litigation against the government would not be prohibitively expensive to the public. While the amounts can be revealed via Freedom of Information Act request, the itemized bills are secret; taxpayers don’t know if the federal government is being overly generous or if the nonprofits are artificially inflating their attorney fees.
While Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin hasn’t made many public statements about sue-and-settle practices since taking office at the head of the agency, a spokesperson told Open the Books last year:
“Outside activist groups should not dictate EPA’s agenda or federal environmental policy. The Trump Administration is keenly aware of concerns with sue-and-settle practices and commits to not engage in them. The Trump EPA will respect the rule of law and the will of the American people in setting policy based on its statutory mandates and Gold Standard Science, not based on side deals with outside activist groups dead-set on driving up costs to Americans or advancing the interests of our foreign adversaries.”
New data indicates Zeldin has kept his word, as attorney fee payouts in 2025 for litigation under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Endangered Species Act (three of the most important laws under which most environmental litigation is filed) have been at their lowest level since 2013, when our records begin, at a little more than $510,000.
The next lowest payout year for attorney fees was the first year of first Trump administration, in 2017. While payments crept closer to $1 million in the next three years of the first Trump admin, Biden administration payouts were between $1.7 and $3.3 million.
The top five litigants receiving attorney fee payouts under CAA, CWA, or ESA during the Biden administration include, Northwest Environmental Advocates, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and the state of California.
During the first year of the second Trump administration, the only two litigants receiving near $100,000 were the Center for Biological Diversity and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense Fund.
FURTHER READING
Taxpayers Send Millions to Nonprofits Filing Costly Climate-Related Lawsuits (Dec. 2025)
Secretive “Sue And Settle” Back In Play At Biden’s EPA (Jan 2024)
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I would argue 'sue and settle' is the primary tactic used by most lawyers at this point. The idea that a case is tried in a courtroom is antiquated - most probably could not argue on their feet. The 'process is the punishment' is very real.
'bout damned time! These 'sue & settle' schemes have been an insidious method of manipulating regulatory agencies behind the backs of legislators' oversight and intent.
Next thing to examine are the "cash in lieu" payments made by developers (held hostage) to select Green NGOs via EPA Compensatory Mitigation of Wetlands graft.