42 U.S.C. § 7604 — Citizen suits

(a) Authority to bring civil action; jurisdiction: Except as limited by subsection (b), any person may bring a civil suit on their own behalf (1) against anyone — including the United States and, to the extent the Eleventh Amendment allows, other government agencies — who has repeatedly violated or is currently violating (A) an emission standard or limit under this chapter, or (B) an order the Administrator or a state issued about such a standard or limit; (2) against the Administrator, where the Administrator allegedly failed to perform a non-discretionary duty under this chapter; or (3) against anyone who builds or proposes to build a new or modified major polluting facility without the permit required for protecting clean air or for nonattainment areas, or who has repeatedly violated or is violating any condition of such a permit. Federal district courts have jurisdiction, regardless of the amount in controversy or the parties' citizenship, to enforce these standards, limits, or orders, to order the Administrator to perform a required duty, and to apply appropriate civil penalties (except in duty-to-act cases). The courts also have jurisdiction to compel agency action that has been unreasonably delayed, except that a delay claim about action reviewable under section 7607(b) can only be filed in the U.S. District Court within the circuit where that review would occur — and in such an unreasonable-delay suit, the people entitled to notice must get 180 days' notice instead of the usual 60. (b) Notice: No action may be brought (1) under subsection (a)(1) — (A) until 60 days after the plaintiff gives notice of the violation to the Administrator, to the state where the violation occurs, and to the alleged violator, or (B) if the Administrator or the state is already diligently prosecuting a civil action in federal or state court to require compliance — though anyone may still intervene as a matter of right in a federal case. (2) Under subsection (a)(2) — until 60 days after the plaintiff gives the Administrator notice, except an action may be brought immediately for violations of certain hazardous-air-pollutant provisions or an order the Administrator issued under section 7413(a). The Administrator sets, by regulation, how this notice must be given. (c) Venue; intervention by Administrator; service of complaint; consent judgment: (1) A suit about a stationary source's violation of an emission standard, limit, or related order can only be brought in the judicial district where that source is located. (2) The Administrator, if not already a party, may intervene as a matter of right at any point in the case; a judgment in a case the United States is not a party to does not bind the United States. (3) The plaintiff must serve a copy of the complaint on the Attorney General and the Administrator. No consent judgment can be entered in a case that does not include the United States as a party until 45 days after the Attorney General and Administrator receive a copy of the proposed judgment, during which time the government may comment on it to the court and parties, or intervene as a matter of right. (d) Award of costs; security: The court, in a final order under this section, may award litigation costs — including reasonable attorney and expert-witness fees — to any party, whenever it decides that is appropriate. If a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought, the court may require a bond or equivalent security under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (e) Nonrestriction of other rights: Nothing in this section limits any right anyone may have under other statutes or common law to enforce an emission standard or limit, or to seek other relief, including against the Administrator or a state agency. Nothing in this section or any other federal law stops state, local, or interstate authorities from (1) bringing an enforcement action or getting a judicial remedy in state or local court, or (2) bringing an administrative enforcement action or getting an administrative remedy from a state or local agency — even against the United States or its officers, agents, or employees — under state or local air pollution law. For rules requiring the United States and its officers and employees to comply the same way as anyone else, see section 7418. (f) Definition of "emission standard or limitation under this chapter": This means (1) a compliance schedule or timetable, emission limitation, standard of performance, or emission standard; (2) a control or prohibition on a motor vehicle fuel or fuel additive; (3) any condition or requirement of a permit relating to protecting clean air or addressing nonattainment, the primary nonferrous smelter order rules, transportation control measures, air quality maintenance plans, vehicle inspection and maintenance programs, vapor recovery requirements, fuel and fuel additive rules, visibility protection, ozone protection, or requirements under sections 7411 or 7412 — whether or not expressed as an emission standard; or (4) any other standard, limit, or schedule set under a permit issued under subchapter V or an approved state implementation plan, any permit term or condition, and any requirement to obtain a permit at all — as long as it is currently in effect under this chapter or an applicable implementation plan. (g) Penalty fund: (1) Penalties collected under subsection (a) go into a special Treasury fund for licensing and other services, stay available for the Administrator to use funding air compliance and enforcement work, and the Administrator must report to Congress each year on what went into the fund, where it came from, and its uses. (2) Instead of depositing civil penalties into that fund, the court may use its discretion to direct them toward beneficial mitigation projects that fit this chapter and help public health or the environment, after getting the Administrator's views on selecting such projects. Any such payment in a single action cannot exceed $100,000.