This happens all throughout government
The EPA wants to enforce rules for which it doesn’t have power. So it has groups like Sierra Club to sue the Government in a friendly court to get the regulation instituted that way. Funds are then paid to the interested parties like Sierra Club, thus increasing their bank account for the next advocacy push.
Sue and settle is a huge scam. Not just the money; also no public hearings where the public can speak out - when public lands are then closed.