wetlands

The Biden administration said it is still deciding whether to appeal a U.S. district judge’s ruling that the federal government improperly shifted permitting authority to Florida for projects that affect wetlands.

Rejecting arguments by Florida and business groups, an appeals court has refused to put on hold a U.S. district judge’s ruling in a battle about permitting authority for projects that affect wetlands.

Florida has quickly launched an appeal after a U.S. district judge rejected a 2020 decision by the federal government to shift permitting authority to the state for projects that affect wetlands.

Wetlands have generally kept pace with sea-level rise by building upward and creeping inland a few meters per year. But raised roadbeds, cities, farms and increasing land elevation can leave wetlands with nowhere to go.

Amid battles in two courts about a 2020 decision by the federal government to shift wetlands-permitting authority to the state, a judge Monday put on hold a lawsuit filed by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

Pointing to permits in “regulatory limbo,” the Florida Department of Environmental Protection asked a judge for a partial stay of a ruling in a legal battle about a 2020 decision that shifted permitting authority from the federal government to the state for projects that affect wetlands.

His ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Endangered Species Act shifts power away from the state.

These are the bills that could help — or hurt — Florida’s environment.

A judge sided with the Everglades Foundation after it sued its former chief scientist saying Thomas Van Lent took or destroyed proprietary information.

County commissioners sidestepped their own rules for managing growth that require a need for additional industrial space and voted to move the boundary after developers offered to double the amount of a land donation. But the contentious vote could be vetoed by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who opposed the move and said afterwards that she was “weighing” her options.

A new vote and another public hearing on a proposal to move the urban development boundary to make way for a 380-acre warehouse logistics center is scheduled for Nov. 1.

A political committee has filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a “fundamental right to clean and healthy waters” and allow lawsuits against state agencies for harm to lakes, rivers, wetlands and other types of water bodies.