ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20096
No(s). 11-15053 (11th Cir. Apr 30, 2012)

The Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court decision that a Native American tribe was not entitled to attorney fees in an underlying case in which it sought to enjoin a Florida water district from pumping polluted canal water into Lake Okeechobee. In that case, the lower court found in favor of the tribe and issued an injunction to the executive director of the water district, requiring him to apply for a NPDES permit. But on appeal, the circuit court reversed and remanded in part, deferring to a recently enacted EPA regulation that confirmed the permit was not required. Because the decision was overturned on appeal, the tribe was not a prevailing party. As such, it is not entitled to fees.