The Endangered Species Act

This paper will discuss certain aspects of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This paper will specifically focus upon the standing requirements for citizen suits under the ESA. The first part of the paper will examine these requirements under the statute and case law. The second part of the paper will analyze the efficacy of citizen suits under the ESA. This analysis will focus upon the methods of analysis.

The ESA authorizes suits brought citizens under certain conditions. First, such suits may only be filed for the following purposes: (a) to enjoin any person from further violating the provisions of the ESA; (b) to compel the Secretary of the Interior to apply the provisions of the ESA regarding the taking of any resident endangered species or threatened species; and (c) to allege a failure on the part of the Secretary of the Interior to perform any act or duty under Section 1533 of the ESA. Second, such actions cannot be commenced if any of the following acts has occurred: (a) sixty days have not passed since a written notice of the violation has been given to the Secretary of the Interior and any alleged violator; (b) the Secretary has commenced an action to impose a penalty; or (c) the United States has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a criminal action in a state or federal court to redress a violation of the ESA. Additionally, the Attorney General has the right to intervene on behalf of the United States, if asked to do so

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ere the alleged protected interest is inconsistent with the intended purpose of the underlying statute. On the other hand, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act does not require that the plaintiff's interests align with the express purposes of the statute. The Efficacy of Citizen Suits The fact that several federal statutes provide for citizen suits in addition to more traditional actions by federal agencies does not mean that such suits are universally considered desirable. Such suits fly in the face of traditional notions of standing and many believe that they pave the way for never-ending legal battles. Private entities covered by the statute in question are vulnerable to any number of actions filed by other private entities who otherwise have no legal position in the statutory framework. The most diligent efforts at statutory compliance may be for naught when an entity which has no authority whatsoever to interpret and officially enforce the statute can file a suit alleging noncompliance. Numerous such suits can effectively prevent an entity from conducting business. Much of this criticism of citizen suits has come from economic analysts. The degree of criticism largely depends upon whether regulatory statut

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