Brooke Marcus Wahlberg Comments on New Florida Water Permitting Powers

Brooke Marcus Wahlberg was quoted in the Law360 story, “What To Expect From Florida's New Water Permitting Powers” (subscription required). The story examines how Florida is taking over water permitting from the federal government under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and how this action could lead to developers seeing a streamlined permitting process that reduces lag time.

Commenting on the issue, Brooke said the overlap between state and federal water programs means the state takeover is likely to create efficiencies. "You'd like to think that the same folks processing state permits also have the hydrological expertise, so it makes sense that they can efficiently do the federal permits," she added. "Ideally, all of that lines up."

Brooke also said that there will be keen interest in seeing how smoothly Florida handles the transition. "I think within the first year, if you start to see permits processed with relative ease, you have a good indicator," she said.