ORLANDO – An Orange County environmental group is suing Gov. Ron DeSantis over his signing of a bill that bars local governments from conferring “rights of nature” on waterways and other parts of the natural environment.
Speak Up Wekiva Inc. filed the lawsuit in the U.S. district court, arguing that a section of Senate Bill 712, the Florida Clean Waterways Act, violates the Ninth and 14th amendments. The portion of the bill that precludes Florida local governments from granting legal rights to parts of the natural environment violates residents’ right to local self-government, the complaint states.
“Further, plaintiff seeks an injunction compelling defendant to refrain from enforcing this unconstitutional preemptive statute, and for an order enjoining defendant from using provisions of that statute to interfere with a vote by Orange County residents on a proposed charter amendment on November 3, 2020,” the lawsuit says.
The Orange County Charter Review Commission voted in March to place the measure assigning certain natural rights to the Wekiva and Econlockhatchee rivers, along with other county waterways, before voters. It creates “the right to clean water” and grants citizens the power to enforce these rights through injunctions and private litigation.
Attorney Steven Meyers of Meyers & Stanley in Orlando filed the complaint on July 1 in the Middle District of Florida.
Mark Miller, senior attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, disagrees with the concept of conferring natural rights to inanimate objects, arguing that a better course for environmentalists would be to elect like-minded local officials who would work harder to sanction polluters and prevent dumping of toxic materials.
“It strikes me as peculiar that a local group would argue that a Florida local government has a federal right to make laws that the Florida state government cannot preempt,” Miller told the Florida Record. “It’s quite a bank shot.”
State government attorneys likely will move for the court to dismiss the complaint, he said, but the process to resolve the issue could take months, given the coronavirus situation. It’s unlikely that the federal lawsuit will achieve environmentalists’ goals, according to Miller.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some effort to amend the (Florida) constitution,” he said. “That’s what I would think is a more likely approach for environmentalists to take.”
The Wake Up Wekiva lawsuit also argues that SB 712 violates the state constitution’s provision of home rule powers to counties and municipalities.
“It just strikes me as strange that a group would argue a local government had a federal right to overrule a state government,” Miller said. “I just don’t follow that logic.”
Orange County farmers with lands near the affected waterways could face a barrage of lawsuits if the environmentalists’ arguments ultimately prevail, he said. As things now stand, the proposed charter amendment could not take effect if passed in November, according to Miller.