Rep. Paul Gosar on Abuses of the Equal Access to Justice Act by Environmental Nonprofits

Abuse of the Equal Access to Justice Act

• 🎯 The hearing focuses on the abuse of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EGA) by well-funded environmental nonprofits.
• 💡 While EGA was intended to combat federal overreach by shifting litigation costs, it's now used by nonprofits for "lawfare" campaigns against federal agencies.
• 💰 Loopholes allow these organizations to evade attorney fee caps and incentivize them to turn weak procedural cases into fee award settlements.

Financial Impact of EGA Lawsuits

• 📊 Federal agencies paid out approximately $24.8 million in EGA awards between fiscal years 2019 and 2024.
• 💸 About 76% of these awards, totaling $1.8 million, went to environmental nonprofits.
• ⚖️ Lawyers for these groups have been reimbursed at rates as high as $500 per hour, funded by taxpayers.

"Sue and Settle" Schemes

• 🔄 EGA considers plaintiffs eligible for fee awards even with partial victories or procedural settlements, encouraging "sue and settle" schemes.
• 🏦 The federal government can reduce litigation costs by settling, perpetuating this cycle.
• 🔍 This practice incentivizes nonprofits to sue federal agencies, block delays, and then collect attorney fees.

Impact on Forest Management and Development

• 🌲 Lawsuits filed under EGA often result in agencies having to conduct secondary or repetitive environmental reviews, costing more time and resources.
• ⛰️ These lawsuits are described as delay tactics that block essential forest management and energy development activities.
• 🔥 In Arizona, wildfires have grown in areas where agencies were prevented from conducting activities to improve wildfire resiliency and forest health due to these lawsuits.

Need for Reform and Transparency

• 📈 The Dingle Act improved transparency with annual reporting requirements, but a full accounting of EGA awards and their impacts remains unclear.
• 🧐 Comprehensive transparency is required for Congress and the public to understand the full impacts of this environmental "lawfare."
• 🛠️ Reforms are needed to prevent well-funded environmental nonprofits from exploiting the EGA framework and to hold abusers accountable.