Harnessing the Power of Citizen Led Suits in the Wake of Chevron

Our Environmental Enforcement Project team believes that we are at the beginning of a new chapter of environmental enforcement and have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to set new standards for the courts now that Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (link) has been overturned. For decades, the Chevron test resulted in weak government regulation under the guise of “deference” to agency decisionmakers where statutory authority is “ambiguous.” Indeed, Chevron deference has left us with decisions that were not wins for the environment or public safety. They were wins for bureaucratic decisionmakers that weigh the environmental impacts of regulation against the economic costs to polluters, all under the guise of deference.

The power of citizen suit litigation and its ability to protect local communities is expansive. Our nation’s core environmental laws authorize any individual whose interests may be impacted by pollution to file suit against those that harm them and their environment. Citizen suit statutes are blind to race and socioeconomic status, allowing affected communities to take formal action in federal court to stop unlawful pollution.

As questions about agency deference are resolved by lower courts across the country, Public Justice will lead the charge to ensure the protection of the people and the planet. The power of citizen suit litigation is illustrated by EEP’s recent 2024 victories: stopping the clearcutting by a timber company to save the threatened Marbled Murrelet in Oregon; holding one of the largest feedlots in the country accountable for environmental pollution in Idaho; and getting regulators in Florida to comply with the Clean Water Act and issue a permit for the Piney Point phosphate facility that is more protective of the environment. The real-world transformative change citizen suits bring to local and regional communities is the reason why Public Justice exists. We go to Court every day to fight climate change, secure environmental justice, and make polluters pay.

Recent Highlights

Press Release: Ninth Circuit Upholds Conservationists’ Efforts to Stop Coastal Old-Growth Logging

Florida Agrees to Stronger Clean Water Act Protections for Piney Point 

Court Denies Simplot’s Motion to Dismiss Clean Water Act Case Over Illegal Factory Farm Pollution on the Snake River

Click the video above to view Javon Bennett’s testimony about the coal dust pollution in Lambert’s Point, Virginia. Learn more about the case here.

You can help. You have the power to stop polluters. Contact us today to confidentially and anonymously make a pollution report. We take your privacy seriously at Public Justice. If you are a whistleblower, please use this form to ensure your report is treated with the highest degree of care and confidentiality. You can also make a donation to Public Justice to allow us to enhance and expand our work. Every step and every dollar matters.

Our Team

Learn more about the Environmental Enforcement Project team of attorneys:

Dan Snyder
Director, Environmental Enforcement Project

Jim Hecker
Senior Attorney, Environmental Enforcement Project

Haley Nicholson
Staff Attorney, Environmental Enforcement Project