Editor's Summary: When state or local government entities sue the federal government under the CAA, they can find themselves barred by the doctrine of federal sovereign immunity, which prevents suit against the U.S. government. They must find an applicable statutory provision that waives sovereign immunity and is applicable to their case to survive a motion to dismiss. This author analyzes whether sovereign immunity is waived under the CAA as to punitive civil penalties in enforcement actions brought by states and local governments. While the CAA's citizen suit provision is held to waive sovereign immunity in the Sixth Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit determined that the same waiver language is provided only for coercive penalties. In suggesting a resolution of this circuit split, the author highlights the differences of each circuit's methodology, and argues for the framework utilized by the Sixth Circuit to provide for waiver of punitive civil penalties.