Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition v. Florida

The federal district court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed a lawsuit challenging various federal and state approvals for a new natural gas plant and related pipeline project. The plaintiffs challenged the project on a number of grounds, including violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act (including for failing to regulate greenhouse gases), and other federal and state statutes. The defendants moved to dismiss on various jurisdictional grounds, including that the environmental group failed to fulfill the 60-day notice requirement for citizen suits required under the Clean Air Act and that the state was immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment.  The court dismissed the suit against the defendants on these and other grounds.

The federal district court for the Southern District of Florida rejected plaintiffs' request for temporary injunctive relief enjoining work on a natural gas-fired power plant and related pipeline. The plaintiffs contended that the plant would emit over 12.5 million tons of greenhouse gases and would “greatly exacerbate global warming.” The district court denied the motion, holding that the defendants had not been served with process, and that the plaintiffs had not provided the federal defendants with the required 60 day notice of intent to sue. The court stated that even if the jurisdictional defects did not exist, it would still have denied the request motion because plaintiffs did not show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.