Research On The Statutory Bars Of U.S Environmental Citizen Suit

It is the essence of the U.S. environmental citizen suit to supplementpublic enforcement with private enforcement. Setting and implementingstatutory bars is conducive to avoiding the disruption and conflict among themultiple enforcement.In practice, statutory bars are always in an ever-changing state ofcombination of station and dynamism. Restrictions on standing and pre-suitprocedures are important parts of statutory restrictions in citizen suits. Barson standing swayed between harsh and lenient. It underwent3stages, namely“injure-in-fact”,"three elements standard of ‘injure-in-fact’,‘causation requirement’ and ‘redress ability requirement’" and “a lenientinterpretation of the three elements standard".The statutory bars on pre-suit procedures refer to both pre-suit noticeand restriction on prosecution during government’s diligent duty performance.They leave a buffer period for public enforcement. In judging whether thegovernment is performing its duty diligently, we need to look at three majorprinciples, which are government’s burden of proof, restriction ongovernment’s discretion and government’s representation of public interests.Moderate statutory bars not only limit the damage caused by thegovernment,but also leave some room for the government’s effective action.Excessive statutory bars significantly ruin the efficacy of private managementof environmental issues. A lack of statutory restriction may lead to unevenpower distribution, low efficiency of law enforcement and increased pressureon judiciary. Therefore, research of statutory restrictions are essential tobalancing the responsibilities and roles of multiple law enforcers.