A pair of recent appellate court rulings blocking citizen groups' suits trying to enforce federal air and water laws underscore limits that judges have placed on such cases, legal observers say, highlighting the need for advocates to ensure they quickly intervene in other enforcement cases filed by regulators to push for major penalties. Rather than setting new limits on citizen suits, one environmentalist attorney says, recent decisions emphasize that advocates hoping to win strict penalties against the target of an enforcement action should seek formal intervenor status in that action, in order to win a role in arguing the case or crafting a settlement agreement. EPA-led enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act and other laws are often resolved with settlement agreements.
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