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 Says “No” to A Stay: Florida’s CWA Section 404 Permitting Program Remains Wholly Vacated
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update|April 2024
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
Newsroom
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Expands Tallahassee Office Space and Offered Services
February 2022
In the Media:
Movers: New Arrivals
The National Law Journal|October 2021
Firm Announcements:
Carl Eldred Joins Stearns Weaver Miller’s Statewide Land Development, Zoning & Environmental Practice
September 2021
In the Media:
Alum Profile: Amelia A. Savage ('06)
FSU Law Focus|September 2021
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Expands Statewide Land Development, Zoning & Environmental Practice with Five New Additions
September 2021