Sierra Club, Inc. v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist.

320 F. Supp. 3d 1298
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 13, 2018
DocketCase No: 6:14-cv-1877-Orl-40GJK
StatusPublished

This text of 320 F. Supp. 3d 1298 (Sierra Club, Inc. v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sierra Club, Inc. v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist., 320 F. Supp. 3d 1298 (M.D. Fla. 2018).

Opinion

PAUL G. BYRON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Sierra Club, Inc. challenges agency actions taken by the St. John's River Water Management and the Army Corps of Engineers relating to the Farmton Mitigation Bank, one of the largest federal wetland mitigation banks in the United States. Plaintiff contends that, by permitting portions of the mitigation bank to be converted to mixed use development, Defendants violated the Clean Water Act's Compensatory Mitigation Rule, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. (Doc. 73). Before the Court are the following cross-motions for summary judgment:

1. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docs. 140, 141);
2. Federal Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 151); and
3. Intervenor's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 150);

The parties filed various responses and replies to the cross-motions for summary judgment. (Docs. 145, 149, 151, 155, 156, 157, and 158). Upon consideration of the records as cited by the parties in their respective briefs, the Court finds that judgment in favor of Defendants is due for all Counts.

I. BACKGROUND

This lawsuit arises out of agency decisions made by the St. Johns River Water Management District ("SJRWMD ") and the Army Corps of Engineers (the "ACOE ")1 in their management of the *1301Farmton Mitigation Bank ("FMB " or the "Bank "). (Doc. 123). The FMB is wholly owned by Intervenor Miami Corporation ("Miami Corp "). At its inception, the FMB contained more than 24,000 acres of wetland and upland habitat, making it one of the largest federal wetland mitigation banks in the country.2 "The importance of this [ ] bank is that it will preserve in perpetuity a very large amount of habitat ... [and insulate it from] residential, commercial or agricultural development ... [by creating] [s]ufficient legal interest and financial responsibility [ ] to ensure perpetual protection." (AR_00089-90).

Because of its large size, the FMB was segmented into three distinct but hydrologically connected sites, with mitigation activities implemented on the sites in phases. (AR_00045-48). Once all mitigation tasks for a particular phase were completed, mitigation credits for that portion of the Bank were generated and available for purchase. (AR_07564). As mitigation credits were sold pursuant to the Clean Water Act's ("CWA ") section 404 compensatory mitigation program, conservation easements were recorded on the corresponding parcels of land in the FMB. The SJRWMD is the grantee of all the conservation easements recorded on the FMB. (AR_00057). As of March 2017, approximately 4,338.92 mitigation credits have been generated and released for sale. (AR_07578). Of those available credits, only 363.728 have been withdrawn to mitigate for permitted impacts to waters of the United States. (Id. ). The ACOE postures that the low credit sales at the FMB "may be a result of the [ ] economic downturn [from 2007 through 2009] as well as the availability of mitigation credits at other Corps-approved mitigation banks with overlapping mitigation service areas." (AR_07564).

The operation of the FMB is controlled by the FMB Mitigation Bank Instrument ("MBI ").3 (AR_0043-00227). The MBI was originally signed by the ACOE in 2000, and contained the mitigation plan for the Bank. Due to the large size of FMB, the number of mitigation credits the market could support was uncertain; thus, the MBI included a mechanism for reducing the size of the Bank if needed:

The fact that Farmton Mitigation Bank is such a large bank, and is expected to operate over a very long time, places a level of uncertainty that all credits will eventually be sold. If the market demand for credits is inadequate for any reason, the Miami Corporation reserves the right to remove unused portions of *1302the bank (those areas without Conservation Easements in place) from the bank.

(AR_00048).

In accordance with this mechanism, Miami Corp requested a modification of the MBI in 2010 (the "MBI Modification "). The MBI modification sought to withdraw 860.22 acres (374.77 acres of wetlands and 110.68 acres of uplands) from the boundaries of the FMB and include them in the in the surrounding Farmton Local Plan-a long-term development plan approved by both Volusia and Brevard Counties. (AR_00679-00708; AR_00804-008013). Miami Corp requested the MBI Modification due to the decrease in the demand for credits from 2007 through 2009. (AR_07565). The land subject to removal is considered an "unused or inactive portion of the FMB"-meaning it had not been used to mitigate for any impacts to water of the United States, and thus had not been preserved by a recorded conservation easement. (AR_07564). Following a period of public comment and interagency coordination, the ACOE "determined that the proposed modification to ... FMB will not impact the ability of the site to continue to provide appropriate compensatory mitigation for future impacts to waters of the United States within the approved service area." (AR_04128-29). Therefore, the ACOE approved the proposed modification. (AR_04129).

Subsequent to the ACOE's approval, Plaintiff Sierra Club, Inc. ("Sierra Club ") initiated this action. (Doc. 1). On January 26, 2016, the ACOE moved to remand to allow the ACOE to conduct a more thorough environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA "). (Doc. 96). Upon remand, the ACOE conducted a NEPA assessment and sought additional public comment through public notice. (AR_05875). The ACOE also coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Officer (AR_06191), coordinated with the Interagency Review Team ("IRT "),4 and conducted an informal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (AR_07043; AR_07213). Following this coordinated assessment, the ACOE issued an Environmental Assessment and Statement of Findings ("NEPA Statement ") on March 3, 2017. (AR_07557-730). In the NEPA Statement, the ACOE affirmed its approval of the proposed MBI Modification, and found:

[T]he proposed modification to the North Bank Site of FMB will not impact the ability of the site to continue to provide appropriate compensatory mitigation for future impacts to waters of the United States within the approved service area. The modification removes only a small portion of the existing wetlands (374.77 out of 13,159.52) and 110 acres of uplands from an area that has not provided compensation for impacts to waters of the United States and has not been preserved by a conservation easement. The Sponsor has provided a perpetual access easement agreement for the continued access, operation and maintenance of the hydrologic structures crossing the removal area to maintain the hydrologic connectivity of the North Bank Site. The Sponsor has agreed to the construction of wildlife crossings, if impacts to jurisdictional waters of the United States are approved which may affect wildlife utilization and connectivity of the North Bank Site. The *1303

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Bluebook (online)
320 F. Supp. 3d 1298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sierra-club-inc-v-st-johns-river-water-mgmt-dist-flmd-2018.