Coal Ash Rule Update: Will Citizens' Groups Be Able To Use RCRA To Second-Guess Utilities' Closure Plans?

According to recent reports, the number of citizen suits filed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) has risen sharply in the past three years. Commentators have suggested that the recent surge in private RCRA enforcement litigation is in response to a perceived lack of enforcement activity by USEPA. Many of these cases have been filed by non-profit public interest organizations which have been established for the specific purpose of protecting some environmental resource. These organizations have purportedly seen huge increases in private donations in recent years and perceive these donations as a mandate to pursue sometimes novel theories of liability in RCRA citizen suits.