Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What are citizen suits?

A. Citizen suits give private individuals the ability to sue on behalf of the environment to protect natural resources that are not otherwise protected by law, and enforce environmental laws that are not being enforced by the government in its capacity as trustee for the public at large. In effect, a citizen suit acts to “deputize” citizens to bring actions to protect the environment and/or biological diversity.

Q. Why do we need a citizen suit law?

A. Environmental laws are not effective unless individuals, businesses, and governments comply with them. Vigorous enforcement of environmental laws makes noncompliance less profitable because violators face the real threat that they will be punished for their actions. In some instances, government simply may be unable to enforce its laws. Environmental agencies are generally understaffed and underfunded, making it difficult to monitor and detect significant violations of the law. During the 1970s, many state legislatures gave more and more responsibilities to overburdened agencies, without giving them more staff or funding to implement those changes. Citizen suits give ordinary citizens who are affected by violations of environmental laws the chance bring attention to the violation and an avenue to compel compliance.

Q. What will this legislation do?

A. This legislation will give citizens the right to bring a suit against violators of state environmental laws if they are adversely affected by the environmental conditions resulting from the violations. A citizen suit could potentially be brought under any law, which, directly or indirectly, deals with the environment, or could even be brought for any damage to the environment, regardless of whether a law was violated.

Q. What is meant by the word “environment”?

A. In the bill, the word “environment” is defined as including, but not limited to, all the state’s natural resources including land, air, and water resources, and plant and animal species and the habitat upon which they depend.

Q. What happens in states that don’t have citizen suit provisions?

A. The vast majority of states – 34 – do not have a general citizen suit statute. In these states, other less effective alternatives have been used. In some states, individual environmental statutes allow for citizen actions; in others, citizens can file a complaint with the attorney general, who then decides whether to pursue an action. The public trust doctrine is being expanded in some states as well. And, in the remainder of the states, common law remedies are the only fallback.

Some states follow the federal approach of having separate provisions in select statutes. For example, Arkansas has no general citizen suit statute, but citizens can file actions under individual state statutes, such as the Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act, and the Remedial Action Trust Fund Act. In Wisconsin, citizens can sue for violations of state mining laws. Yet it is important to note that citizens in these states cannot, for instance, sue for violations of their state’s endangered species act, because these laws do not contain a citizen suit provision.