Congress' purpose in altering the American Rule by creating these fee-shifting statutes was to encourage citizen suits by granting attorneys' fees to private citizens who brought suit, thus further[ing] the goals of the underlying statute in their role as private attorneys general." This purpose is central to the environmental-relief statutes containing the language "whenever appropriate." The citizen suit, coupled with the catalyst theory, has allowed for substantial advances in environmental law over the past thirty years. If the catalyst theory was banned from environmental statutes such as the CAA or the ESA, all of the recent accomplishments would start a harmful backslide that could endanger the health and welfare of all citizens.
展开▼
