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'Huge win for Florida's wetlands': Green groups cheer order undoing Florida's permit control
'Huge win for Florida's wetlands': Green groups cheer order undoing Florida's permit controlA federal judge in Washington has canceled a decision under former President Donald Trump’s administration that let Florida handle permitting for development in wetlands normally regulated by the federal government.
The ruling vacated a handover of permitting power that made Florida one of just three states in the country, along with Michigan and New Jersey, responsible for enforcing wetlands protections spelled out under a section of the federal Clean Water Act.
The order returns that permitting power to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had handled the decisions until December 2020. U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss gave the state 10 days to seek a stay to delay his order.
Environmental activists worried that state-level permitting could be swayed too much by development interests’ political influence and said ordinary Floridians risked losing protections that were built into the federal system.
Parts of the lawsuit remain unresolved, but activists celebrated the ruling Moss signed Thursday.
“This is a huge win for Florida’s wetlands,” said St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman, whose organization was one of seven environmental groups that sued EPA in 2021 to return federal oversight. “The bottom line is, if we’re really going to defend and protect the St. Johns River, it starts with the St. Johns River wetlands.”
The ruling vacated a handover of permitting power that made Florida one of just three states in the country, along with Michigan and New Jersey, responsible for enforcing wetlands protections spelled out under a section of the federal Clean Water Act.
The order returns that permitting power to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had handled the decisions until December 2020. U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss gave the state 10 days to seek a stay to delay his order.
Environmental activists worried that state-level permitting could be swayed too much by development interests’ political influence and said ordinary Floridians risked losing protections that were built into the federal system.
Parts of the lawsuit remain unresolved, but activists celebrated the ruling Moss signed Thursday.
“This is a huge win for Florida’s wetlands,” said St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman, whose organization was one of seven environmental groups that sued EPA in 2021 to return federal oversight. “The bottom line is, if we’re really going to defend and protect the St. Johns River, it starts with the St. Johns River wetlands.”