Another victory for the environment and for the Rule of Law, over the creepy corporate Confederacy of Dunces, and over the malicious maladministration of DONALD JOHN TRUMP.
My first contact with Section 404 permits was while that section of federal law was being written, when Realtors and developers were offering campaign contributions to members of Congress in 1977 in hopes of stopping government regulation of wetland destruction. These creepy corporate lobbyists were perfectly willing to the American people down the river, in their overweening desire to sell people homes in swamps, as long as they could make money. Congress voted to protect wetlands.
But later, the usufructs of their desired anti-regulatory results became apparent, as in Mississippi, where a corrupt anti-environmental corporate lawyer, former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator JIMMY I. PALMER, ws involved in defending these schemers, who stuck African-American homeowners with homes contained by sewage, the inevitable result of building badly in swamps.
When the position of St. Johns County Commission Chair was encumbered by the unspeakable HUTSON development family retainer PRISCILLA "RACHAEL" BENNETT, she had an agenda item on the Waters of the United States Rule. As I walked to the podium to speak, she said it was a "discussion item," for which she was allowing no public comment. What a rebarbative repulsive reprobate developer prostitute. I shall always remember here unkindness in dealing with BoCC. So long as only Dull Republicans are elected to it, will BoCC remain insolent and insensitive?
From Florida Phoenix:
THE PHOENIX FLYER
Federal court ruling could compel FL to pause on permitting dredge and fill of wetlands
Source: Southwest Florida Water Management District
Protecting wetlands and waterways should not be at the broad discretion of states such as Florida that were granted permitting authority in the final days of the Trump administration, says a national environmental law organization, citing a sweeping Aug. 31 federal ruling limiting states’ authority.
The ruling in U.S. District Court in Arizona tosses out the federal “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (NWPR) that limited which waters are subject to regulation under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act. Judge Rosemary Marquez ordered the rule be vacated, restoring a previous rule that requires protective regulation of many more bodies of water than did the new rule.
With that new NWPR vacated, some recent Florida-based decisions about dredging and filling wetlands are unlawful, contends Earthjustice, which wants the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to hit pause on state-authorized dredging and filling until those activities are reviewed in light of the federal ruling.
In a separate lawsuit filed in January, Earthjustice challenges a Trump-era decision to transfer wetlands permitting from the U.S. Corps of Engineers to the State of Florida, which a group of prominent environmental groups say would be less protective. That suit, still pending, seeks to strip the state of its newly granted authority over wetlands permitting and give it back to federal authorities.
While Florida remains in charge of wetlands permitting for now, Earthjustice cautioned new Florida DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton that the Aug. 31 federal ruling curtails the state’s power and renders some state-issued permits unlawful.
“Vacatur of the rule restores broader coverage of waterways under the Clean Water Act as existed in years past,” says Earthjustice’s Sept. 1 letter, written by Managing Attorney Tania Galloni and attorneys Bonnie Malloy and Christina Reichert.
“The court’s vacatur of the NWPR as unlawful requires that DEP immediately re-assess the scope of waterways in Florida covered by Section 404,” the letter continues. “This will have considerable impacts in Florida and on the state’s duties under federal law. It is therefore critical that DEP act immediately to ensure protection of all waterways covered by the Clean Water Act.”
Specifically, the letter urges Hamilton to immediately notify the regulated community – aka developers – of the Aug. 31 court ruling and its ramifications for their projects; block dredging and filling of projects that are rendered unlawful under the new rules; and stop issuing permits pending further review of the state’s jurisdiction.
DEP has not yet replied to a request for comment.
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