Most Americans don’t know they have the right to enforce many public laws when the government does not.
Government enforcement agencies are understaffed and overworked. It’s inevitable that some wrongdoing will continue unpunished and unabated unless citizens take the lead. When government enforcement agencies don’t enforce the law, or when they aren’t aware of legal infractions, responsible citizens have the right to enforce certain laws on their own initiative.
Citizens are empowered to enforce numerous Federal and state environmental and consumer laws.
These include, among others, the Federal Clean Air Act — citizens can sue polluting companies directly, when enforcement agencies do not.
The same is true of the Federal Clean Water Act and Federal hazardous waste laws.
Californians can also enforce Unfair Competition Law, California’s Proposition 65 for environmental chemical hazards in products and in the environment, as well as public nuisance laws, and employees can bring Private Attorney General actions to enforce labor laws.
If you are aware of a company violating environmental or labor laws, and want to do something about it, contact the Firm to learn more about citizen enforcement of public laws.