In what is being hailed as a victory to conservationists, a U.S. district judge has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service don’t have the right to hand over wetland permitting duties to the state of Florida.
The ruling will affect large planned housing developments in rural areas outside Naples that conservationists and biologists consider crucial habitat for the endangered Florida panther.
Prior to December 2020, when the federal agencies handed over wetland development permitting to Florida, permitting required federal Fish and Wildlife impact reviews on endangered species.
The plaintiffs claimed that the Florida process was less rigorous, and therefore a violation of the Endangered Species Act. The judge agreed.
The EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife handed over the regulating process to Florida in December of 2020, in the waning days of the Trump Administration. The Biden Administration continued the policy.
Several plaintiffs — including Miami Waterkeeper, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club — alleged in a lawsuit that the federal agencies violated the law “in their rush to transfer this permitting authority to Florida in the final days of the last administration.”
“No state can be allowed to take over a federal program as important as the Clean Water Act’s wetlands permitting program by making an end run around the Endangered Species Act,” said Earthjustice attorney Christina I. Reichert.
One of the concerns of Judge Randolph Moss was that Florida’s plan would result in developers gaining liability protection if they incidentally harmed or harassed an endangered species by dredging and filling wetlands.
Supporters argued it would reduce duplicative state and federal permitting and give Florida more control. The oversight shift has been backed by business groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Florida Community Developers.
But environmental groups Friday touted Moss’ ruling, which involved permits for dredge and fill activities often associated with such things as large developments.
Though the EPA and USFS could delay or postpone the judge’s decision, the judge was explicit in stating that any project that might affect an endangered species, such as Florida panthers, will not be able to use Florida’s permitting program.
Regardless of delay, the state of Florida would not be allowed to issue any permits for applicants for projects that would affect endangered species, Reichert said.
Appeals to the decision will have to wait until the judge makes a final judgment on other legal issues in the lawsuit.
Immediate panther protection
The ruling has immediate impact on potential developments affecting the endangered Florida panther.
“There are a number of projects that have been vying for their state … permits that are in Florida panther habitat and in wetlands as well,” said Amber Crooks, environmental policy manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “So we’re grateful that the judge has sided with us in this case.”
Two of the most pressing housing projects have gone through public notice and public meetings, and are on the precipice of a permitting decision, Crooks said.
The Bellmar would put 8,600 residents on vacant land a mile away from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and within the Camp Keais Strand wildlife corridor east of Naples.
And just to the north, the 3,300-acre Kingston Project, in eastern Lee County, would add 10,000 homes to an area that, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, is primary and secondary Florida panther habitat. The land is adjacent to the Corkscrew ecosystem watershed and the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
Both planned development areas are home to some of the 200 or so panthers that remain in Florida.
With the judge’s decision Friday, developments that threaten panther habitat will have to apply for permits federally instead of with the state, and those permits will be contingent on wildlife officials analyzing impacts on protected species.
“To reestablish the laws that protect our area from unbridled development and growth couldn’t come at a better time,” said Crooks, “especially when a lot of the projects we’re concerned about are getting ready to be permitted.”
Reporting from the News Service of Florida was used in this article.
Bill Kearney covers the environment, the outdoors and tropical weather. He can be reached at . Follow him on Instagram @billkearney or on X @billkearney6.
