Agencies, Authority, Ambiguity: The Role of Bureaucracies in Sackett v. EPA

Sackett v. EPA, a 2021 9th Circuit Court case, illustrates the burdensome nature of ambiguous regulations and the all-too-common incompetency of executive agencies. Sackett has a complicated history: intending to build a house, the Sacketts purchased a marshy residential property and began filling the lot after attaining local permits. Six months into the project, the EPA informed the Sacketts that they had violated the Clean Water Act (CWA), a notoriously vague act that even the Supreme Court has struggled to comprehend. The EPA ordered the Sacketts to restore the land or face crippling fines. Believing that their property did not contain water governable under the CWA, the Sacketts sued the EPA. A 13-year legal battle ensued; ultimately, after atrocious false play by the EPA, the 9th Circuit Court decided, incorrectly, for the defendant.

Demonstrating the dangerous flaws of unrestrained executive agencies, Sackett provides an opportunity to reimagine American bureaucracy. Re-embracing federalism and prizing state and local agencies over their faceless federal counterparts will encourage accountability, efficiency, clarity, and effectiveness, all of which, as Sackett illustrates, federal bureaucracy sorely lacks.