The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center announced on March 18 its support for a petition to the Washington Supreme Court, seeking review of a lower court’s decision in the case Fode v. Department of Ecology.
The case centers on Ron Fode, a lifelong farmer from Moses Lake, who was fined by the state Department of Ecology. NFIB argues that the agency failed to fulfill its legal obligation before issuing penalties. According to NFIB’s amicus brief, “Given that Fode’s express purpose was to irrigate his land, Ecology had a duty to offer specialized, practical help in writing identifying one or more means to irrigate Fode’s land within the framework of the law.”
The brief further states: “Though the court of appeals held that ‘Ecology did not have a duty to provide technical assistance by finding water for Mr. Fode’s use,’ … this is exactly what a plain reading of the statute required Ecology to do—to offer specialized help in identifying ways that Fode could irrigate his land.” The organization contends that “the statute clearly places an obligation on Ecology to assist Fode in finding a way to accomplish his purposes—i.e. to assist him in finding water rights. The court of appeals, however, held that a warning is sufficient technical assistance under the law to satisfy the statute and begin assessing penalties.”
Patrick Connor, state director for NFIB in Washington, said: “This is another instance of indifferent lower courts deferring to out-of-control bureaucrats who ignore the spirit and plain letter of the law, causing real harm to the very people that law is intended to assist. I am proud that NFIB‘s Small Business Legal Center is willing to stand with family farmers and other small-business owners seeking to correct these injustices.”
NFIB has advocated for small and independent business owners for over 80 years as a nonprofit and nonpartisan association dedicated exclusively to their interests.
