Trump wants the power to stop the public from suing polluters

Ars Technica reports that the Trump administration is pursuing changes to citizen suit provisions — the mechanisms in federal environmental law that empower ordinary citizens and advocacy groups to sue companies and government agencies for environmental violations. Congress wrote these provisions into the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act specifically to extend enforcement beyond the executive branch. Since the nineteen seventies, citizen suits have driven over two thousand lawsuits and reshaped environmental law, halting dam construction to protect endangered species, stopping groundwater pollution, and securing millions in civil penalties for violations.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton