{ "id": "RS20497", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RS20497", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 100922, "date": "2000-03-14", "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:38:04.463941", "title": "The Pendulum Swings Back: Standing Doctrine After Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw", "summary": "On January 12, 2000, the Supreme Court held in Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw that\nplaintiffs had\nstanding to pursue a Clean Water Act citizen suit, despite the fact that (1) the company-defendant\nhad achieved compliance prior to the district court's decision, (2) plaintiffs sought only civil\npenalties payable to the U.S. Treasury, and (3) plaintiffs had demonstrated only reasonable concern,\nnot physical injury to the environment. In so holding, the Court appeared to retrench substantially\nfrom its environmental standing decisions of the 1990s, which had all gone against plaintiffs. In the\nwake of Laidlaw , environmental citizen suits will be easier to bring. This report will\nnot be updated.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS20497", "sha1": "876747c5ebf4d91c5361b8b81a37c836ef9494d7", "filename": "files/20000314_RS20497_876747c5ebf4d91c5361b8b81a37c836ef9494d7.pdf", "images": null }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20000314_RS20497_876747c5ebf4d91c5361b8b81a37c836ef9494d7.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Constitutional Questions" ] }