U.S. Supreme Court issues favorable WOTUS decision in Sackett and cites State Farm Bureaus' Amicus Brief

California Farm Bureau Federation 6/20/23

The U.S Supreme Court issued its decision in Sackett v. EPA on May 25, 2023, finding in favor of the Sacketts. The court rejected the significant nexus test and instead found the correct test to determine if adjacent wetlands are waters of the U.S. to be the relatively permanent standard (the Clean Water Act extends only to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection with waters of the United States — i.e., with a relatively permanent body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters — making it difficult to determine where the water ends and the wetland begins.) Prior to the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, 20 state Farm Bureaus, including CAFB, joined together to submit an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court to highlight the role states play in regulating water quality within each state. The state Farm Bureau brief focused on the primary role states play in protecting water quality, robust state regulations in each of the 20 states, and impacts of WOTUS definitions on agriculture. Within the majority opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court cited the state Farm Bureaus’ brief regarding state authority to regulate waters.