As many Marylanders are probably aware, the Old Line State has enjoyed a recent history of passing important environmental laws on everything from climate change to Chesapeake Bay restoration. Environmentalists in Maryland have reason to be proud of this track record of going above and beyond the minimum standards of environmental protection established in federal law.
But there are a few basic legal obstacles that are holding back progress in Maryland. As detailed in a new policy brief by Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Chesapeake Legal Alliance and Center for Progressive Reform, Marylanders suffer from some of the most restrictive standing requirements in the country and have exceedingly few environmental rights to enforce state environmental laws in Maryland courts. Without having both a legal right and legal standing to sue in court, a person harmed by pollution or other environmental damage has no opportunity to take action in our state’s legal system.
Standing Last in Line: The Hurdles to Bringing Environmental Accountability Lawsuits in Maryland notes that the General Assembly passed key legislation decades ago to try to confer important environmental rights to Marylanders and to expand environmental standing in Maryland, but that these older laws have been deemed ineffectual and largely ignored.
Moreover, as the General Assembly in more recent decades passed major bills to fix numerous environmental problems, few of these more recent laws have holistically targeted the inadequate standing doctrine in Maryland or provided new environmental rights to Marylanders. Standing is the basic requirement that must be satisfied for anyone to be allowed to proceed with a legal action in court, regardless of whether they otherwise have a separate “right” or “cause of action.”
Standing Last in Line provides an important education on these issues and serves as a wake-up call to environmental leaders and changemakers in Maryland. It is past time to resolve the injustices caused by a lack of standing and a lack of environmental rights in the state. At the very least, Marylanders should enjoy the same rights and protections in Maryland courts as they have in federal courts. To get there, Maryland should:
- Create new rights to allow Marylanders to enforce violations of state pollution laws and ensure state residents have no less access to state courts than they have in federal courts
- Expand the use of federal standards of environmental standing in Maryland, which are far less restrictive than Maryland’s standards
- Modernize and improve the Maryland Environmental Standing Act to revive its original purpose and give effect to the General Assembly’s initial intent
The General Assembly has an opportunity to ensure the environmental laws it’s passed are fully and effectively enforced by empowering Maryland residents to go to court when agencies that lack the resources or will to carry out their duties fail to protect the state from pollution and other environmental harms. It’s beyond time for lawmakers to act.
The publication of this policy brief was made possible with generous funding from the Abell Foundation.
MD standing policy brief press release 120522
EN 
ES