Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “The decision is incredibly important because it goes back to the fundamentals, which is that the Endangered Species Act means what it says. The judge was on really solid ground in his ruling. He’s relying on decades of Endangered Species Act case law.”
Conservation and environmental justice groups filed an administrative appeal challenging aspects of the Suncor refinery’s Clean Water Act discharge permit.
Stronger standards would prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of pollution from reaching rivers and streams, helping to protect more than 22 million people
The Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act would allow polluters to recklessly pollute our streams, wetlands, and waterways while shielding them from accountability
Bonnie Malloy, Attorney, Florida Office: “The trigger for (the state) to file an appeal hasn’t happened yet because the court hasn’t rendered a final judgment yet. This is something developers sought because they could get permits quicker than when they go through the (U.S. Army) Corps process, but there were several illegal shortcuts they took…
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency based on the State Department of Ecology failure to implement a 20 year-old water clean-up plan to address warm stream temperatures in the Lower Skagit River that cause ongoing harm to salmon.
Christina Reichert, Attorney, Florida Office: “[The ruling] sends a clear signal that Congress meant what it said when it passed the Endangered Species Act. No state can be allowed to take over a federal program as important as the Clean Water Act’s wetlands permitting program by making an end-run around the Endangered Species Act.”
Suzanne Novak, Attorney, Northeast Office: “If we don’t prohibit charging a customer, we may very well end up with a two-tiered system, where wealthier communities, which are disproportionately white, will have more of their lead service lines replaced than in other communities.”
A federal court rules in favor of environmental groups, determining that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated federal law when they greenlit Florida’s takeover of the Clean Water Act wetlands permitting program.
The groups reached a settlement with the County of Kauaʻi and Department of Health after filing a lawsuit in 2022 to enforce the Clean Water Act, capping a series of suits to protect West Kaua‘i coastal waters
Stu Gillespie, Attorney, Rocky Mountain Office: “Clean water is one of those things we take for granted, and you don’t really notice until you don’t have it.”
Make Every Day Earth Day.
In honor of Earth Day and the fight for the wild spaces we love, the air we breathe, the water we drink — any gift you make for the month of April will be matched $2:$1!