A federal appeals court has ruled that the first Trump administration erred in approving Florida’s wetlands permitting program, in a win for green groups that warned of risks to endangered species.
In a split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday found that EPA violated the Endangered Species Act when it granted Florida oversight of wetlands permits in 2020 — affirming a lower court ruling from 2024.
The immediate impacts on the ground in Florida are minimal, as the federal government had already taken back authority for wetlands permits following the earlier ruling. But environmental advocates hailed the decision as a win for Florida panthers, whooping cranes and other at-risk species, especially as the Trump administration works to reduce protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act.
“This decision wholly affirms that all of Florida’s endangered creatures — everything from Florida panthers to the tiny Miami cave crayfish — deserve full protections under the Endangered Species to make sure we don’t drive them to extinction,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that challenged EPA’s approval.
