Florida Permit Ruling Shows Species Law Can Disrupt Builders (1)

A federal court ruling vacating Florida’s takeover of a federal wetlands dredge-and-fill permitting program highlights the powerful role the Endangered Species Act plays in permitting construction nationwide, legal scholars say.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15 said the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers’ 2020 handover of the federal Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge-and-fill permitting program to the state of Florida violated the ESA. The state has handled permitting for the last three years for new construction affecting waters of the US, or WOTUS, and it’s poised to return that authority ...