Environmentalists Aim To Halt Florida Assumption Of CWA 404 Permitting

摘要

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and six other environmental groups are suing EPA and other federal agencies in a bid to stop Florida's assumption of dredge-and-fill permitting from the Army Corps of Engineers, alleging the federal government violated numerous environmental and administrative laws in approving the assumption. "EPA's approval is unlawful because the state's program is not as stringent as federal law and rests on unprecedented arrangements that violate federal law," the groups say in a lawsuit filed Jan. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. EPA signed its approval for Florida to assume Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 permitting in most waters in the state on Dec. 17, and the approval appeared in the Federal Register Dec. 22 with a statement that it became effective immediately upon publication.