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- Title
Why Citizen Suits Against States Would Ensure the Legitimacy of Cooperative Federalism Under the Clean Air Act.
- Authors
Sivaram, Anuradha
- Abstract
Although hailed as a "model of cooperative federalism, " the Clean Air Act often leaves state governments and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an uneasy stalemate over the implementation of emissions reductions regulations. As states often face pressure from polluting industries to reduce federally-enforceable Clean Air Act commitments, and as the United States EPA does not have the capacity to closely control state compliance with federal law, there arise instances where states shirk their obligations under the Clean Air Act. For decades, private and non-profit organizations have been able to use the citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act to enjoin such state implementation failures. This Note challenges the Sixth Circuit's decision to curtail the scope of such suits in Sierra Club v. Korleski. This Note explores the history of the citizen suit provision and finds that it has been consistently used to prevent states from subverting national environmental goals under the Clean Air Act. Contrary to the Sixth Circuit's contention, this Note argues that Endangered Species Act caselaw is inapposite for an analysis of the scope of the Clean Air Act citizen suit provision. This Note concludes by arguing that authorizing private party suits to enjoin states from flouting voluntary Clean Air Act obligations does not offend the Tenth or Eleventh Amendments of the United States Constitution and instead promotes the legitimacy of the cooperative federalism scheme.
- Subjects
CLEAN Air Act (U.S.); UNITED States. Court of Appeals (6th Circuit); ENDANGERED Species Act of 1973 (U.S.); UNITED States. Constitution. 10th Amendment; UNITED States. Constitution. 11th Amendment; UNITED States. Environmental Protection Agency; COOPERATIVE federalism; FEDERAL laws
- Publication
Ecology Law Quarterly, 2013, Vol 40, Issue 2, p443
- ISSN
0046-1121
- Publication type
Article