The Department of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C.

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that RCW 90.44.050's exemption from groundwater permitting for domestic uses is limited to a single 5,000 gallon-per-day withdrawal whether the use is single or group, so a developer of a 20-lot subdivision may not claim a separate exemption for each lot's well even though each well individually withdraws less than 5,000 gpd. The court also held that no Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking was required because the limitation follows from the statute's plain meaning rather than agency policy, and it rejected equitable estoppel because the dispute concerns the meaning of a statutory provision, a question of law. The court reversed the trial court's summary judgment for the respondents and remanded for entry of summary judgment for Ecology. Justice Owens, joined by Justices Johnson and Bridge, dissented, contending each lot's well serves a single domestic use entitled to its own exemption, and Justice Sanders concurred in the dissent, reading the statute to categorically exempt every sub-5,000 gpd domestic well.