Aquatic Mosquito Control General Permit

Apply for new mosquito permit coverage

If you haven't already, you will need to sign up for a Secure Access Washington (SAW) account. SAW is the state of Washington’s secure portal to access and submit applications. Start by clicking the "Sign Up!" button. SAW will send you an email to activate your account (check your spam or junk folder).

Add the Water Quality Permitting Portal to your SAW account by following these steps:

1. Inside SAW, click "add a new service"
2. Click the "browse by agency" option, scroll to and select "Department of Ecology"
3. Then scroll to “Water Quality Permitting Portal” and click “apply”

To apply for permit coverage, complete the Notice of Intent (NOI) application by following these steps:

1. In your SAW account, look for the Water Quality Permitting Portal, and click “Access now”
2. Click “Continue”, and under "Apply for:", click “Permit Coverage - Renewal - Notice of Intent (NOI)”
3. Find "Aquatic Mosquito Control General Permit" on the list, and click "New"
4. Enter information on each tab of the Notice of Intent (NOI) application
5. When completed, click “Save and Continue” at the bottom
6. Sign and mail the hard copy paper NOI form to Ecology at the address provided
7. Include a map of the proposed treatment areas, a SEPA checklist, and any required plans

If you have questions, contact the staff listed in the Contact information box below.
 

This permit is for government entities and individuals who plan to use larvicides or adulticides to control mosquitoes. This permit does not apply to homeowner use of insecticides for residential control of mosquitoes.

The application of mosquito larvicides or adulticides to Waters of the State requires permit coverage, whether it is a direct or indirect discharge. For example, a direct discharge is the application of larvicides directly to surface water, while an indirect discharge is the settling of adulticides onto a surface water even though the water was not the target area.

Annual public notice 

In 2024, an additional permit requirement (S6.A.2) was added to ensure that annual public notifications are provided in English and other language(s) commonly spoken in treated areas. This is consistent with state law, and Ecology policy requiring meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency. Resources to help identify which languages are commonly spoken in different areas of Washington are listed below.

• Washington Military Department's Limited English Proficiency Mapping tool
  Click on a county, and the pop up box will list the other language commonly used there.
   
• EPA's Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
  This map shows where languages are spoken by census tract. To load this data on the map; select "Additional Demographics", then choose the Category "Language", and the Variable for your language of interest (like Spanish or Chinese), and click "Add to Map". After the data loads onto the map, use the + or - buttons to zoom to your area of interest.

Additional public notification resources Ecology is developing:

• Annual public notice template - we are still developing this template with permittees for use each year before treatments start.
• Translations of the annual public notice template - Ecology will provide translations into other languages commonly spoken in Washington. These may include Spanish, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

We will email permittees and our email list once these additional resources are available.

Shoreline signs

Use the Shoreline sign template for public notices posted when larvicides with water-use restrictions are applied to waterbodies, as required in permit condition S6.B. 

Submit Annual Reports by December 31 of each year through Secure Access Washington by following these steps:

1. In your SAW account, look for the Aquatic Mosquito Control permit, and click “Access now”.
2. Click “Continue”. Scroll down, then click “Annual Reporting”.
3. Click on the green “Instructions” button for detailed steps to enter data, submit reports, and print reports.
4. Use this Excel table to convert the amount of product used into pounds of active ingredient when reporting applications.
5. If a red error message appears at the top saying “You have no Approved or Cancelled permits…”, please contact the staff listed on the permit website.
6. Sign and mail the hard copy paper Annual Report to Ecology at the address on the form.

•  Use the transfer form to switch coverage to another party. 
• To end your permit coverage, file a notice of termination form.