On November 20, ELC filed an Amicus Curiae (or “Friend of the Court”) Brief opposing the Sugar Industry’s Eleventh Circuit appeal of a loss in its legal challenge to the Everglades Agricultural Area (“EAA”) Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area (“STA”).
ELC filed a brief on behalf of broad group of 4 municipalities, 5 environmental NGOs, and 2 chambers of commerce – Islamorada, Village of Islands, the City of Lake Worth Beach, the City of Sanibel, the City of Stuart, the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, the Sanibel Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, Captains for Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and Florida Bay Forever.
These organizations and municipalities are home to residents and businesses, or advocate for and have members, who use, enjoy, and depend on a healthy Everglades, Florida Keys, Lake Worth Lagoon, and Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, and Lake Okeechobee. Their interest in this case is to ensure that the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is implemented to restore, preserve, and protect America’s Everglades and to safeguard the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to effectively manage its infrastructure throughout south Florida for the protection of fish, wildlife, and Everglades National Park.
The groups came together in opposition to the Sugar Industry’s legal interpretation of the law implementing CERP, an interpretation that would eviscerate the law’s potential to restore the Everglades and instead lock in expansive, heretofore non-existent protections for agricultural water supplies. Their arguments seek to repurpose projects conceived, developed, and implemented for Everglades restoration to the task of replacing any and all water lost to the Sugar Industry as a result of anything from climate change to the protection of human health and safety.
The federal district court rejected the Sugar Industry’s arguments in a 39-page, well reasoned order, and our brief asked the appellate court to affirm the lower court’s decision.
The Sugar Industry will file reply briefs by the end of Devember, and the appellate court will likely schedule oral argument in 2024.