A titanium mine proposed near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp is becoming a battleground over whether developers nationwide can trust the Army Corps of Engineers’ word that planned developments won’t harm federally protected streams and wetlands.
The Corps said last week that developers “can no longer rely” on its official determinations on avoiding protected wetlands under the now-defunct, Trump-era Navigable Waters Protection Rule.
Unreliable Trump-era determinations may upend the long-held practice of giving businesses certainty of relying on Corps determinations for five years to make “good faith” business decisions, said Larry Liebesman, a senior adviser at the environmental and water permitting firm ...