Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program and partners recently secured a victory for imperiled species in Florida, persuading a court to halt the state’s unlawful permitting process for the destruction of wetlands. In the last days of the Trump administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved an unlawful process for the state of Florida to take over wetlands fill permitting under the Clean Water Act, and provided a blanket authorization for harm to species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for all future permittees.
Sierra Club and allies swiftly filed suit in federal district court, but projects with devastating impacts on species such as the endangered Florida panther began moving through the state permitting pipeline while the litigation was still pending. Alarmed that such projects were on the brink of being permitted, Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity urged the District Court to immediately block approval of two projects that would have devastating impacts on the Florida panther and harm the shrinking population of Florida crested caracaras. The court promptly ruled in Sierra Club’s favor, finding that the new permitting program violated the ESA and issuing an order blocking Florida from issuing any permits.
Sierra Club and its many co-plaintiffs are represented in this case by Earthjustice. Because only Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity sought emergency relief to stop the new permits, Environmental Law Program attorneys Karimah Schoenhut and Kartik Raj developed the robust technical and legal basis needed to support the motion for a temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction. They analyzed the impacts of the impending projects; found and worked with scientific experts, including a caracara expert, to develop evidence of irreparable harm to protected species; identified Sierra Club members harmed by the impacts to species; worked with the members to develop their statements; and contributed to extensive briefing. Sierra Club’s success in persuading the Court to issue a sweeping order blocking Florida’s unlawful permitting process is a major victory for endangered species.