I would like to discuss the respective roles of the federal government and private citizens in the enforcement of environmental laws. This is an area that raises a host of questions, some pragmatic and some more philosophical. In general terms, who should be in the driver's seat with regard to environmental enforcement? Should it be the federal government (along with its state counterparts), or should it be private persons bringing suits under the various citizen suit provisions? Did Congress really intend in enacting those provisions that citizens should stand in the place of government as the enforcer of environmental statutes or did Congress intend that there be shared responsibility between citizens and the government in the enforcement of environmental laws?

Another perplexing and hotly debated question is, should government be bound by judgments in citizen suits? Although the environmental statutes generally require that a citizen notify the government 60 days before bringing suit, most statutes do not require that a citizen-plaintiff serve the government with copies of complaints, other papers, or even consent decrees.¹ To the extent that the government would be bound by the judgment in a citizen enforcement action, the government's priorities are in danger of being severely interrupted, and its attention focused on a narrower set of interests.