ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20028
No(s). 21-10676 (11th Cir. Mar 3, 2022)

The Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court's dismissal of a challenge to a developer's filling of a wetland near its hotel in southeastern Georgia. An individual and environmental groups argued the developer did not comply with the CWA's permitting process because it filled the wetland for the purpose of landscaping and not constructing a commercial structure; that it did not comply with Georgia's conditional certification; that the authorization under the permit it was issued had expired; and that the authorization was null and void because the developer "intentionally and maliciously misled the" Army Corps of Engineers. The developer moved to dismiss for lack of standing and failure to state a claim. The district court dismissed the suit for lack of standing on the ground that plaintiffs failed to allege an injury-in-fact. The appellate court found that the individual adequately alleged a concrete injury to her aesthetic interest because "she has viewed the wetland, derived aesthetic pleasure from its natural habitat and vegetation, and now derives less pleasure from unnatural grasses and lawn placed on the wetland." It vacated the district court's dismissal and remanded for further proceedings.