In January 2000, a coalition of environmental and animal
protection groups* filed two lawsuits, one against the federal
government and one against the state of Florida. Both suits
were filed under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
The suits claimed the defendants—including the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(COE), and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWCC)—failed, among other things, to adequately
protect the endangered West Indian manatee against boat
collisions and habitat destruction. There are only about 3,000
manatees left.
The federal suit was settled in January 2001, and the state
suit three months later in April 2001. Although none of the
defendants admitted any violations of the law, they did commit
to act quickly to protect manatees.
Aspects of the federal settlement are described below.
How was the settlement supposed to
help manatees?
The settlement was intended to further manatee protection
and conservation in several important ways:
- Manatee Refuges and Sanctuaries. The settlement
required the USFWS to establish new manatee refuges and
sanctuaries throughout peninsular Florida. The refuges and
sanctuaries were to address the needs of the manatee at an
ecosystem level to ensure that adequate protected areas were
available to satisfy the biological requirements of the
species, with a view toward the manatee's recovery. Under the
settlement, new refuges and sanctuaries were supposed to be
proposed for public comment by April 2, 2001, and adopted by
September 28, 2001.
- Restrictions on Waterside Development. The USFWS
was to issue, within two years of the settlement,
comprehensive regulations (required by the MMPA) for ensuring
that projects permitted by the COE—which includes all new
docks, piers, boat slips, and similar structures in manatee
habitat—have no more than a "negligible" effect on manatees.
The USFWS was also obligated to prescribe conservation
measures for ensuring that COE-permitted projects had the
"least practicable impact" on manatees and their
habitat.
- Environmental Measures. The settlement required
the USFWS and COE to analyze, in an Environmental Impact
Statement or an Environmental Assessment, the "direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts on manatees and their
habitat" of all COE-permitted projects in manatee
habitat.
- Interim Steps. As an "interim" step (i.e., during
the period of time in which the MMPA regulations are being
developed), the USFWS and the COE was supposed to have
applied new, stringent criteria before approving any new
projects that would increase boat traffic in manatee habitat.
In counties where the USFWS has determined manatees face a
"high" or "medium" risk of being killed by boats, new
projects could not be permitted unless the affected areas
have established, and are enforcing, speed zones that are
adequate to protect manatees.
- Manatee Recovery Plan. The settlement required the
USFWS to issue a new, updated Manatee Recovery Plan by
February 28, 2001. Under the Endangered Species Act, recovery
plans must set forth the steps that the federal government
will pursue to recover an endangered species, as well as the
criteria that must be satisfied before the species is removed
from the list, or "downlisted" from endangered to threatened
status.
- Transparency. The settlement required the COE to
allow greater public scrutiny of the COE permitting process,
so that groups like the Save the Manatee Club would be in a
position to monitor how the COE is making decisions on
projects that could adversely affect manatees.
Who signed the settlement?
The settlement was signed by attorneys for (1) the
plaintiffs, consisting of the Save the Manatee Club (the lead
plaintiff) and 17 other international, national, and regional
conservation and animal-protection organizations; (2) the
federal defendants, consisting of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the USFWS;
and (3) the industry intervenors in the case, consisting of the
Association of Florida Community Developers, the National
Marine Manufacturers Association, the Marina Operators
Association of America, and the Marine Industries Association
of Florida.
In what court has the settlement
been filed?
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
What impact did this settlement
have on the lawsuit brought by Save the Manatee Club and other
conservation groups against the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation?
This settlement had no direct impact on that lawsuit, which
was settled three months later in April 2001.
Did the settlement impose a
moratorium on all development in manatee habitat?
No, but it required the federal government to be more
cautious before issuing federal permits allowing such
development. As an interim measure, the federal government must
ensure that speed zones exist and are being adequately enforced
before permitting new projects that would increase boat traffic
in manatee habitat. Over the long term, the federal government
must ensure that COE-permitted projects throughout manatee
habitat are having no more than a "negligible" cumulative
effect on the species and its habitat, which will require
extensive analysis as to where such projects should, and should
not be, built.
What has happened since the
settlement?
The plaintiffs believed that this settlement created an
unprecedented opportunity for a new era in manatee conservation
efforts by the federal government. We believed that the
settlement, if implemented in good faith, could help bring
manatees back from the brink of extinction and pave the road
for their eventual recovery.
The coalition attempted to set up a new schedule for the
federal agencies to meet their settlement obligations, but by
the summer of 2002, the coalition was forced to ask Judge Emmet
G. Sullivan to find the agencies in violation of the agreement.
Judge Sullivan agreed and threatened to find Secretary of the
Interior Gale Norton in contempt of court for failing to live
up to her obligations under the settlement. The USFWS and COE
were then ordered to produce, by November 1, a final list of
manatee refuges and sanctuaries in Florida.
The agencies complied with the order, but not to the
satisfaction of coalition members. Coalition members noted the
woefully substandard protections in counties such as Lee,
Collier, and Duval, where a large number of manatees have been
killed via watercraft collisions. After viewing this final
list, coalition members have decided to press Judge Sullivan to
declare Secretary Norton and other administration officials in
contempt of court.
*Groups in the coalition:
- The Humane Society of the United States
- Save the Manatee Club
- Defenders of Wildlife
- International Wildlife Coalition
- U.S. Public Interest Research Group
- The Sierra Club, Animal Welfare Institute
- International Fund for Animal Welfare
- Citizens Association of Bonita Beach
- Responsible Growth Management Coalition
- Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida
- Florida Audubon Society
- Florida Public Interest Research Group
- Sanibel Captiva Audubon Society
- Audubon Society of Southwest Florida
- The Biscayne Bay Foundation
- Florida Defenders of the Environment
- The Florida Wildlife Federation
- The Pegasus Foundation
