SLAYTANICA

A new U.S. Justice Department filing could block Americans from suing polluters. For more than 50 years, ordinary people and advocacy groups have been able to take polluters to court when the government fails to enforce environment protection laws. These cases are possible because Congress included “citizen suit provisions” in major laws such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

The process is straightforward. A person or group must notify the alleged violator and the Environmental Protection Agency. If the problem is not addressed within 60 days, they can file a lawsuit. Citizens can sue companies they believe are violating the law. They can also sue federal agencies that fail to perform duties required by those laws. If the government is already actively prosecuting the violation, however, the citizen lawsuit generally cannot proceed.

Since the 1970s, citizen suit provisions have been used in more than 2,000 lawsuits. They have helped stop unauthorized pollution, protect endangered species and force companies to clean up contaminated land and water. In Texas, a citizen lawsuit brought by shrimper Diane Wilson resulted in a $50 million settlement with Formosa Plastics over plastic pellets discharged into Lavaca Bay. Another case secured $14.2 million in penalties for illegal emissions from ExxonMobil’s Baytown refinery and chemical complex.

Now, the Justice Department is asking a federal judge for the power to stop such cases when the executive branch decides that enforcement is not in the public interest. The argument emerged in a Clean Air Act lawsuit brought by the NAACP against xAI over gas turbines used to power an AI data center. The Justice Department asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that ultimate responsibility for enforcing federal law belongs to the executive branch, not private groups. The court has not yet accepted that argument, and Americans have not lost their right to bring citizen suits.