The standing of citizens to enforce against violations of environmental statutes in the United States

Journal of Environmental Law

Volumn 12, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 360-384

  Miller, Jeffrey G ^a  

^a PACE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 1842718998     PISSN: 09528873     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. 33 USC 1251, 1342.
2. 33 USC 1365.
3. 5 USC 551, 702.
4. 33 USC 1265(a)(1) & (2).
5. NRDC v Train, 8 Env Rep Cas (BNA) 2121 (DDC 1976).
6. 33 USC 1311(b)(2).
7. USC 1317. The action and its consequences are described in R. O'Leary, 'The Courts and the EPA: The Amazing "Flannery Decision"', 5 Nat Res & Env 18 (1990).
8. Atlantic States Legal Foundation v Tyson Foods Inc, 913 F 2d 1128 (11th Cir 1990).
9. 42 USC 7401, 7661-7661f.
10. 33 USC 1365.
11. 33 USC 1319(g)(6).
12. US Const Article III, s 2, cl 1.
13. Flast v Cohen, 392 US 83, 101 (1968).
14. Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v Camp, 397 US 150, 151 (1970).
15. 484 US 49 (1987).
16. 497 US 871 (1990).
17. USC 702.
18. 504 US 555 (1992).
19. USC 1531-44.
20. Friends of the Earth v Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC) Inc, 890 F Supp 470 (DSC 1995).
21. Friends of the Earth v Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC) Inc, 956 F Supp 588 (DSC 1997).
22. Friends of the Earth v Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC) Inc, 149 F 3d 303 (4th Cir 1998).
23. 520 US 43 (1997).
24. 520 US at 68, fn 20, quoting United States Parole Comm'n v Geraghty, 445 US 388, 397 (1980), in turn quoting Monaghan, 'Constitutional Adjudication: The Who and When', 82 Yale LJ 1363, 1384 (1973).
25. 1999 WL 955378, p 23.
26. See Public Interest Research Group of New Jersey v Powell Duffryn Terminals Inc, 914 F 2d 64 (3rd Cir 1990).
27. Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v National Sea Clammers Association, 453 US 1, 14, n 25 (1981).
28. 120 S Ct at 708, n 4.
29. For a particularly well-reasoned opinion see Atlantic States Legal Foundation Inc v Buffalo Envelope, a Division of American Envelope Co, 823 F Supp 1065 (WDNY 1993). Contra, see W.H. Lewis Jr, 'Environmentalists' Authority to Sue Industry for Civil Penalties Is Unconstitutional under the Separation of Powers Doctrine', Env LR (April 1986).
30. R.J. Lazarus, 'Thirty Years of Environmental Protection Law in the Supreme Court; 17 Pace Env rev (1999) 1, 6-7.
31. See e.g. Miller's note in this journal; A. Afilalo, 'How Far Francovich? Effective Judicial Protection and Associational Standing to Litigate Diffuse Interests in The European Union', Jean Monnet Working Paper 1/ 98, http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/JeanMonnet/papers/98/98-1-.html; J.E. Bonine, 'Standing to Sue: The First Step In Access to Justice', http://merlin.law.mercer.edu/elaw/standingtalk.html.
32. See e.g. Miller's note in this journal; A. Afilalo, 'How Far Francovich? Effective Judicial Protection and Associational Standing to Litigate Diffuse Interests in The European Union', Jean Monnet Working Paper 1/ 98, http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/JeanMonnet/papers/98/98-1-.html; J.E. Bonine, 'Standing to Sue: The First Step In Access to Justice', http://merlin.law.mercer.edu/elaw/standingtalk.html.
33. Ibid.
34. J. Golub, 'The Politics of Judicial Discretion: Rethinking the Interaction Between National Courts and the European Court of Justice' (1996) 19 West European Politics 360.
35. R v Secretary of State for the Environment ex parte Rose Theatre Co Ltd [1990] 1 QB 504.
36. R v North Somerset District Council ex parte Garnett [1998] Env LR 91.
37. R v Inspectorate of Pollution ex parte Greenpeace Ltd (No 2) [1994] 4 All ER 329.
38. R v Somerset County Council ex parte Dixon [1997] JPL 1030.
39. Schiemann, Otton and Sedley JJ are all now in the Court of Appeal (and thus are LJ).
40. Case C-293/97, R v Secretary of State for the Environment ex parte Standley [1999] 2 CMLR 902.
41. Although the Director of Public Prosecutions is able to take over proceedings and may also discontinue them.
42. For example, s 16 Water Resources Act 1991. See further C. Hilson, Regulating Pollution: A UK and EC Perspective (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2000) p 161.
43. Although there are in relation to another of the specific restrictions: under s 4(3) Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, in order to bring a private prosecution, a person must obtain a certificate from the Minister of Agriculture confirming that he has a 'material interest' in the waters affected.
44. Case C-321/95 P Stichting Greenpeace Council (Greenpeace International) v Commission [1998] ECR I-1651, [1998] 3 CMLR 1.
45. See e.g. Greenpeace, supra, n 6, Dixon, supra, n 7; cf Garnett, supra, n 5.
46. The recent High Court decision in R v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry ex parte Greenpeace Ltd (unreported) - which involved an area of the North East Atlantic Ocean and in which standing was granted to Greenpeace with very little comment - thus offers no particular clues because there was obviously nobody living in the area whose rights to self-determination might have been affected.