In a third, less common form, citizens may sue for an injunction to abate a potential imminent and substantial endangerment involving generation, disposal or handling of waste, regardless of whether or not the defendant's conduct violates a statutory prohibition.
[3] In general, the law entitles plaintiffs who bring successful citizen suits to recover reasonable attorney fees and other litigation costs.
[4] In 1970, when amending the Clean Air Act, the United States Congress was inspired by similar legislation in the civil rights arena[5] to begin including specific provisions for citizens to bring suit against violators or government agencies to enforce environmental laws.
[7][8] In 1989, the United States Supreme Court held that such notice and the 60-day delay are "mandatory conditions precedent to commencing suit.
First, the plaintiff must have suffered an “injury in fact”—an invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) “actual or imminent, not ‘conjectural’ or ‘hypothetical’”.