COLUMBIA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has terminated Columbia-based advocacy group Local Motion's federal transit grant.
The EPA originally awarded the grant to Local Motion in September to fund a three-year transit master plan in Columbia. The group received official notice from the EPA that its grant had been terminated, effective immediately on March 28.
The agency cited shifting priorities under the Trump administration as the reason for this decision, according to news release from Local Motion.
This leaves Local Motion's master transit plan at a standstill.
Local Motion is a grassroots advocacy group focused on transportation equity in mid-Missouri. Since 2000, the group has made significant progress in the city's transportation policies, including the Complete Streets policy in 2004 and the Vision Zero policy in 2016.
"It feels really disappointing because there were so many people and so many conversations that I had with folks that were so excited about the potential for having a transit system that will work for them," Local Motion Advocacy Coordinator McKenzie Ortiz said.
She said the grant termination has forced the organization to take a step back — in the opposite direction. Ortiz has been a part of the master transit plan project since its conception.
"Our goal was to look 50 years out, and working backwards looking at that end goal ... not just assessing what we currently have," Ortiz said.
Transit master plan
The transit plan was designed to operate in three phases. The first phase consisted of organizing stakeholders around the city, including business owners, nonprofits and commuters who rely on public transit on a regular basis.
"We were talking to those people to get buy-in on what kind of things they would like to see in a public transit system because we really want this to be a collaborative process," Ortiz said.
She emphasized that their plan is a community vision, not just Local Motion's vision.
The next phase involved creating a transit advisory board employing stakeholders to have a seat at the table in the planning process.
Some of the concerns stakeholders have brought up over the years include creating a connection to Route B and restructuring Columbia's bus system to be more convenient and timelier for residents.
"Even though this grant has been taken from us, the work doesn't stop. Local Motion's mission to get people where they need to go safely without using a single vehicle," Ortiz said. "Our mission remains the same ... we do plan on fighting this."
'We're going to fight': Avenues to restore the funding
Local Motion has 30 days to file an appeal to the EPA, contesting the grant removal.
While the grant suspension was a disappointment to say the least, it didn't come as a total surprise.
"We're, of course, watching and hearing about other federally funded programs having their grants suspended," Local Motion CEO Mike Burden said. "Our staff have been in communication with our contact at the EPA, and things looked good on paper until they didn't."
In February, the grant was put on temporary suspension and then given back. Local Motion received final confirmation for the grant removal at the end of March. But Burden said there was no clause for termination in the original grant contract.
"We're talking to a lawyer about best ways to challenge this because it's a contract that we signed, and there was no clause for termination," Burden said.
He hopes the EPA will agree to reinstate the grant but is looking into all possible avenues to challenge the termination if it doesn't.
The grant amount was just under $500,000. Local Motion had used approximately $30,000 since receiving the funds in September.
"Those grants can be a way as we build partnerships with other organizations and agencies," Burden said. "You can leverage some of the works that's already happening to bring even larger grants and partners to the table ... to really make some pretty significant change."
Local Motion plans to file the termination challenge this week.
"We're going to fight to restore that funding. We're going to continue to do this, the work to make our community a better place to live and play in and work in," Burden said. "And we look forward to working with any and all partners to try and continue to make that happen."
