In 2002, a controversial bill was passed that changed the rules for citizens challenging environmental permits in Florida. Before the bill, citizens and environmental groups had an easier time challenging permits, but now it’s harder for them to do so. The bill was part of the regular legislative session and was called HB 813. It changed a law from 1971 that allowed citizens to “intervene” in proceedings to protect the environment. The new law makes it more difficult for citizens to participate in these proceedings. Two early cases interpreted a law about who can participate in administrative hearings about environmental permits. The first case said that people had to show they were affected by the permit before they could participate. But the agency changed its mind after another case and said people didn’t need to show that. The second case was about when people could get involved in the hearings. The judge said they could only join once the hearings had started, but the agency said they could also start the hearings. Overall, the courts have had to clarify how this law works. In Greene v. Department of Natural Resources, a citizen challenged the approval of a piece of land being added to a conservation list in Broward County. This was the first time a court interpreted the law in this way. In one case, the court said a person can’t start a legal process without showing that they have a big stake in the outcome. But in a later case, the court said that a person can start a legal process without showing they have a big stake as long as there is a specific law that lets them do it. After that, many cases cited that specific law as the only reason a person can start a legal process, even without showing they have a big stake in the outcome. The Legislature passed a bill that changes the rules for citizens and organizations to challenge environmental projects. The Governor signed it, saying it won’t have a big impact. But some environmental groups see it as a threat and are suing, saying it violates the Florida Constitution. The legislation was originally meant to clarify that citizens can’t start administrative proceedings. It was changed to make sure citizens can still request proceedings if their interests are affected. It also sets out the criteria for what “substantial interests” are enough to request a proceeding. The bill makes it easier for citizens to challenge environmental permits by saying they don’t need to show any special harm. They just have to prove that the activity they’re concerned about will affect their use of natural resources like air and water. This is the same as existing court decisions, so it doesn’t really change the rules for getting involved in environmental issues. The bill was changed so that citizens wouldn’t have to show a “special injury” to have legal standing to challenge certain environmental decisions. This could make it easier for environmental groups to take legal action. Some Florida environmental groups wanted the law to stay the same so they could easily challenge environmental permits. But a new change to the law requires them to show how the permit affects them or their members. To make some groups happy, a new rule was added that still gives them automatic permission to challenge permits if they meet certain requirements, like being a Florida group with at least 25 members. The requirement that the group be a Florida corporation has caused some controversy, especially for foreign corporations like the Sierra Club. However, it seems that this change won’t have a negative impact on foreign corporations, as they can still assert standing based on the standing of their members. The requirement for a group to be a corporation excludes unincorporated associations. The rule that the group must have been formed at least one year prior to the permit application filing is meant to prevent cases where a group is created just to file a petition as a tactic. It’s unclear how a corporation will prove it has 25 members in the county where the activity is proposed, and there are concerns about privacy if organizations have to reveal their membership lists. Early versions of the bill had ways for organizations to demonstrate their membership, but this language was not included in the final version, so we’ll have to wait and see how this requirement is interpreted. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) implements environmental programs for the EPA, including permit programs. Florida amended a law to clarify citizen participation in permit proceedings. The change allows citizens to join ongoing administrative proceedings but not start new ones. This clarifies the rights of citizens in environmental permit decisions. The legislature changed an environmental protection law to make it easier for citizens and environmental groups to challenge decisions that affect the environment. This change won’t affect citizens’ rights to request a hearing if their interests are affected. The new law also gives automatic standing to certain environmental groups. These changes might lead to more court cases interpreting the new law. The person applying for a license or permit has the responsibility to prove they deserve it. There were different bills about environmental protection, but they didn’t all pass. Some people supported the bills, while others criticized them. The Attorney General also wrote a letter about the bills. People are arguing about a bill that affects the Everglades. Some think it’s bad and want the governor to veto it. Others think it’s important for funding the Everglades. The governor is getting pressure from both sides to make a decision. The Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David B. Struhs supported a bill for Everglades funding, but some people didn’t like it and filed a lawsuit. This is similar to a previous challenge to the Florida Forever Program. The bill would also change attorney’s fees and bonding requirements for environmental lawsuits. The bill HB 813 defines the terms “intervene” and “initiate” in a way that is in line with legal dictionaries and rules for starting legal proceedings. The bill had several committee hearings before it became law. The bill only allows someone to take legal action if they can show that they will be affected by the outcome. This means that the person filing the petition will have to prove how they will be affected. Representative Gaston Cantens explained that individual citizens can challenge environmental permits if it affects their use of air, water, or natural resources. This was upheld in a legal case, and a new bill was passed to clarify the standing requirements for citizens to challenge environmental permits. The new bill still requires the injury to be different from that suffered by the general public. This is about a meeting in Florida where people talked about laws to protect the environment. Some changes were proposed but not all of them became laws. They also talked about cases where people challenged permits for building projects. One case involved a nonprofit group and the other involved a cement company. The Department of Environmental Protection said that the changes to the law should not affect people’s rights to challenge agency decisions. An organization can start a legal process under a certain law in Florida, but the court didn’t talk about it in a specific case because the organization had been around for a long time. Sometimes, private groups don’t have to say who their members are if it could lead to those members being harassed. There are also rules about who can challenge permits for environmental issues. Simply put, judges can review permit decisions if someone is affected by the decision and seeks a review. A court in Florida said that an environmental group didn’t have the right to review a decision because they didn’t show they were affected by it. The article was written by lawyers who specialize in environmental and administrative law. It was submitted by the Environmental and Land Use Law Section. The purpose of the section is to teach members about their duty to the public, improve how justice is carried out, and advance the study of law.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/intervene-means-intervene-the-florida-legislature-revises-citizen-standing-under-f-s-403-4125/
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