Enforcement citizens’ suits

The citizen suit provisions have also been revised to allow citizens to seek penalties against violators, with the penalties going to a U.S. Treasury fund for use by EPA for compliance and enforcement activities. The U.S. government s right to intervene is clarified and citizen plaintiffs will be required to provide the U.S. government with copies of pleadings and draft settlements. 

In addition to the permit requirements of the 1977 amendments, the 1987 amendments permitted citizen suits that allowed any individual to bring a legal suit against any party believed to be in conflict with the provisions of the CWA. Citizen suits were also permitted against any party responsible for the enforcement and administration of the CWA that was believed derelict in its responsibilities. This expanded the responsibdity of clean water enforcement to include the public as well as government bodies. 

A small business cannot obtain relief under the Small Business Policy if it has received a warning letter, notice of violation, field citation, citizen suit complaint, or any other enforcement action for the same violation within the prior three years. It is also barred from relief if it received penalty mitigation under the Small Business Pohcy (or a State or Tribal analog) for the same or similar violation in the past three years, or if it has been the subject of two enforcement actions for any environmental violation in the past five years. " ... 

Boyer, B., and Meidinger, E. (1985) Privatizing Regulatory Enforcement A Preliminary Assessment of Citizen Suits under Federal Environmental Laws , Buffalo Law Review 34 833-964. 

The CWA and its 1977 and 1987 amendments covered other topics Title III, enforcement, dealt with effluent limitations, standards and implementation plans for specific pollutants, inspections, monitoring, and enforcement Title I covered research and related programs Title IV outlined treatment plant construction grants, permits, and licenses. The general provisions covering citizen suits, reports to Congress and state authorities under the CWA were present in Title V. 

J. Clarence Davies, III, The Politics of Pollution 18, 73 (1970) Jeannette L. Austin, The Rise of Citizen-Suit Enforcement in Environmental Law Reconciling Private and Public Attorneys General, 81 Nw. U. L. Rev. 220, 227 n -j (1987) (citing statutes). 

Bogus, Lawsuits, 111 Matthew D. Zinn, Policing Environmental Regulatory Enforcement Cooperation, Capture, and Citizen Suits, 21 Stan. Envt l L. J. 81, 82, 88, 96... 

The EPA enforces AHERA through civil penalties and referrals for criminal prosecution, and citizens can bring suit through the citizens petition provisions of TSCA. EPA has consistently brought civil enforcement proceedings against schools and owners of school buildings, and has recently turned its enforcement attention to charter schools that may be unfamiliar with AHERA s requirements. In an enforcement aimounced September 30, 2008, the EPA fined six Arizona charter schools that EPA said did not have any... 

Additionally, Congress provided an administrative procedure for downwind states to enforce an upwind state s SIP in Section 126. This administrative avenue of enforcement was provided as additional remedy to a state in addition to the state s ability to bring a citizen s suit ... 

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