SCOTUS Unanimously Rules in Favor of Sackett in Sackett vs. EPA

This week, the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) held that the Clean Water Act (CWA) applies only to wetlands that are "as a practical matter indistinguishable from waters of the United States." Therefore, parties that want the CWA to apply to adjacent wetlands must show that the adjacent body of water is a "water of the United States," that is, "a relatively permeable body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters," and also that the wetland "has a continuous surface connection with that water, making it difficult to determine where the 'water' ends and the 'wetland' begins."

What does this mean for PMPs? Under the CWA, discharges of pollutants (chemical pesticides) into the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The ambiguity of the definition of WOTUS forced PMPs who perform mosquito control, weed and algae control, and animal pest control on bodies of water to operate under regulatory uncertainty. This week’s ruling provides certainty around permitting requirements for certain use patterns.