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Overview

Amelia Savage’s practice focuses primarily on Environmental & Natural Resources law. Her clients and projects range from mining operations, to single-family docks, to energy facilities, to wetland mitigation banks, to large scale developments, to water supply matters and beyond.

Amelia helps clients obtain regulatory environmental permits from federal, state and local agencies, including consulting with supporting agencies on wildlife issues. She frequently guides clients through the permitting process with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida’s water management districts. She assists clients and agencies on issues related to threatened and endangered species as well as participates in rulemaking regarding imperiled species and other environmental rules.

Amelia also represents clients in obtaining proprietary authorizations to use lands owned by the state of Florida, both with regards to upland and submerged land parcels. She is highly skilled in defending environmental permits from challenges before federal and state courts as well as the Division of Administrative Hearings.  

Prior to joining the Firm, Amelia worked at a boutique law firm in Tallahassee, Florida.  In addition to her experience in the environmental arena, she has also provided counsel on matters involving real estate, property taxation, health law, and adoptions.

Areas of Concentration

  • Environmental resource permitting, compliance, enforcement and litigation
  • Mining operations permitting, compliance, enforcement, and litigation
  • Consumptive use permitting, compliance, enforcement and litigation
  • Administrative law, permitting, registrations, rulemaking, and litigation
  • Conservation Easements, Planning & Incentives
  • Water quality/water supply
  • Water use regulation and permitting
  • Threatened, Endangered & Listed Species
  • State-Owned & Sovereign Submerged Lands
  • Utilities (wastewater, reuse, potable and irrigation water)
  • Energy Facilities Siting & Licensing
  • Public-Private Water Partnerships
  • Wetlands & Mitigation Banking
  • Agritourism

Representative Experience

  • Represented Mosaic, the world’s leading integrated producer of concentrated phosphate and potash, regarding their mines in DeSoto, Ona, South Pasture Extension, South Fort Meade, and Wingate. Assisted company in obtaining wetlands, water, and species permits from local, state, and federal agencies, defending permits from challenge when necessary, permit compliance, and real estate matters.
  • Assisted in the permitting of the North Florida Resiliency Connection an electric transmission line through the seven counties and 176 miles of the Panhandle to create service redundancy by Gulf Power. Assistance included navigating the NEPA process and unique challenges related to National Forests and historic preservation evaluations, and local government negotiations regarding comprehensive plan and land development regulation compliance.
  • Represented Florida Power & Light in obtaining state authorization through a multi-party administrative permitting and hearing process for Units 6 & 7 of their Turkey Point facility. Efforts focused specifically on wetlands and species issues.
  • Assisted Duke Energy in navigating the federal environmental permitting for their Levy Nuclear Project, including wetlands mitigation approaches and negotiations with local and state agencies regarding use of public land for transmission lines and for collaboration on mitigation opportunities.

Professional & Community Involvement

  • The Florida Bar, Environmental and Land Use Law Section (ELULS) and Administrative Law Sections, 2006-Present
  • Children’s Home Society, Board Member, 2014-2017
  • United Way, 2010-2012
  • Power of the Purse, 2010-2012

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2024-Present
  • Florida Trend, Up & Coming Legal Elite, 2018

Publications & Presentations

Land Development News Update, Publications: Federal Court Strikes Down Florida’s Assumption of CWA Section 404 Permitting
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|February 2024

Government Affairs News Update, Land Development News Update, Publications: What's Developing | Winter 2024
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|January 2024

Land Development News Update, Publications: Two New Major Environmental Law Updates You Should Know About
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|September 2023

Land Development News Update, Publications: Florida Funds Agricultural Conservation Easements at Record Amounts
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|March 2023

Land Development News Update, Publications: Five Important Environmental Topics You Should Know About
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|February 2023

Events: Emerging Issues in Environmental Resource Permitting
36th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School|July 2022

Land Development News Update, Publications: USFWS to Revise Critical Habitat Rules For Manatees
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|July 2022

Land Development News Update, Publications: Bird, Bird, Bird - Bird Is The Word!
Stearns Weaver Millers News Update|November 2021

Land Development News Update, Publications: Development Demand Drives Opportunity for Conservation of Gopher Tortoise Sites
Stearns Weaver Millers News Update|October 2021

Publications: Federal Court Puts ‘Navigable Waters Protection Rule’ In Murky Waters for Florida
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|October 2021

Government Affairs News Update, Land Development News Update, Publications: What's Developing | Fall 2021
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|September 2021

Land Development News Update, Publications: FWC Seeks Public Input on Beach-Nesting Birds Draft Guidelines
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|September 2021

Events: Improving Financial Assurances
National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference|May 2021

Publications: Chapter 8: Waterfront Property - Florida Real Property Complex Transactions
The Florida Bar, 9th edition, 2018 and 10th edition, 2020 |July 2020

Events: Emerging Issues in Environmental Resource Permitting
Florida Chamber Environmental Permitting Summer School, 2014, 2016-2020|July 2020

Events: Sovereign Submerged Lands and Aquatic Preserves
Florida Chamber’s Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School, 2018-2020|July 2020

Events: Recent Regulatory Guidance Letters: Opportunities & Challenges
National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference|May 2020

Events: Florida Energy Policy Outlook
Florida Chamber’s Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School|July 2019

Publications: Statewide Environmental Resource Permitting
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law|September 2015

Publications: Incidental Take Permitting and Habitat Conservation Planning
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law|September 2015

Publications: The Endangered Species Act Listing Process
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law|September 2015

Publications: Nationwide Permits Under Both Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10 and Clean Water Act Section 404
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law|September 2015

Publications: Division of Responsibility for Wetlands Permitting
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law, 2008-2015|September 2015

Events: Mosaic’s Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Gopher Tortoises on Mosaic Land
Gopher Tortoise Council|September 2013

Events: Reconciling Federal and State Interests in Endangered Species Protection
University of Florida College of Law 19th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference|April 2013

Events: A Developer’s Guide to Navigating Bug and Bunny Issues with the Wildlife Agencies
The Florida Bar Environmental Land Use Law Section Annual Update|January 2013

Publications: Environmental Resource Permitting in the Northwest Florida Water Management District
Florida Treatise on Environmental and Land Use Law|September 2012

Publications: Why Do Federal Agencies Rely on ARNI Designations in Environmental Permitting
Environmental and Land Use Law in the Florida Bar Journal|December 2010

Publications: Why is ARNI an Environmental Permitting Stumbling Block?
ABA Section of Environmental, Energy, and Resources Newsletter, Volume 41, Number 3|February 2010

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