39-4416. CITIZEN SUITS. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person who has been injured or damaged by an alleged violation of any permit, standard, regulation, condition, requirement, or order which has become effective pursuant to this chapter, may commence a civil action on that person’s own behalf against any person alleged to have committed the violation. A person commencing an action under this section shall be required to file a bond or equivalent security in an amount not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or in conformance with the requirements of rule 65(c) of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure if injunctive relief is sought.

(2) No action may be commenced under subsection (1) of this section if the department has commenced and is diligently prosecuting an administrative, civil, or criminal action to require compliance with the law. Further, no action may be commenced under subsection (1) of this section unless the plaintiff has given the department sixty (60) days’ notice and substantial evidence of the violation upon which the citizens’ action is based. However, if the department commences an action in a court of the state of Idaho, any interested person may intervene as provided in rule 24(a) of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure.

(3) In any action under this section, the department may intervene as a matter of right.

(4) When issuing any final order in any action brought pursuant to this section, the court may award costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, to any prevailing party, whenever the court determines such an award is appropriate, except that the state of Idaho shall not be required to pay such costs in any citizen suit where the state has become a party.

(5) Nothing in this section shall restrict any right which a person, or class of persons, may have under any other statute or the common law.

History:

[39-4416, added 1983, ch. 154, sec. 1, p. 429; am. 1993, ch. 291, sec. 7, p. 1089.]