Citizen Suit in the United States

Citizen Suit in Environmental Law

A lawsuit brought by a person or organization against someone who is accused of violating environmental laws or against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not doing a nondiscretionary job. Citizen suits must be authorized by the law that prohibits the violation, but many environmental statutes contain provisions for citizen suits.

Most citizen suits have been brought under the Clean Water Act, probably because evidence of violation is given routinely to the EPA in required reports, and citizens can obtain the reports simply by requesting them. Citizens cannot collect the fines, though; since they act in place of the government, any fines collected go to the U.S. Treasury. If, however, the citizen settles the lawsuit, the settlement agreement may provide for some payment to the citizen or group. Attorneys’ fees and other costs are typically awarded if the citizen takes the case to court and wins.

Requirements for Citizen Suits

All of the citizen suit provisions in the various environmental laws require sixty to ninety days notice to both the government and the person alleged to be violating the law before a complaint may be filed. This requirement

allows the government to review the situation and decide whether it should bring the suit itself. Or, if the government itself is the target of the lawsuit, as it would be if EPA failed to issue regulations within a time limit set by a statute, it gives the government a chance to act.

After notice is given and the waiting period expires, the lawsuit may be filed by a person who claims to have been harmed by the defendant’s action. Person in legal terminology is broadly defined; a person can be an individual or a public interest group, a business, or a trade organization. Courts have been very generous in finding that a person has an interest in stopping the violations.

Another requirement for a citizen suit is set forth in an important case, Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Foundation: the suit must claim that the violations are ongoing. Though the citizen bringing the lawsuit need not show that the violations are continuous, the suit must claim that they are at least intermittent or likely to recur. The EPA, however, is not limited by this requirement. It can sue for past violations, even though the problem has been corrected and the offender is complying with the law at the time the suit is filed.

Finally, citizen plaintiffs must show that some harm is related to the violation. Again, courts are fairly generous on this point. The violation must be connected in some way to the harm, but the violator does not have to be the only person who contributed to the pollution. For example, if a company discharges more oil and grease than its permit allows and a film is seen on the river, that is enough to connect the company to the harm, even if other companies also violate their permits.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.