86
Opinion of the Court
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is a private enforcement action under the citizen-suit provision of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), 100 Stat. 1755, 42 U. S. C. § 11046(a)(1). The case presents the merits question, answered in the affirmative by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, whether EPCRA authorizes suits for purely past violations. It also presents the jurisdictional question whether respondent, plaintiff below, has standing to bring this action.
I
Respondent, an association of individuals interested in environmental protection, sued petitioner, a small manufacturing company in Chicago, for past violations of EPCRA. EPCRA establishes a framework of state, regional, and local agencies designed to inform the public about the presence of hazardous and toxic chemicals, and to provide for emergency response in the event of health-threatening release. Central to its operation are reporting requirements compelling users of specified toxic and hazardous chemicals to file annual
R. McClintock; for the Pacific Legal Foundation by Robin L. Rivett and M. Reed Hopper; and for the Washington Legal Foundation by Barry M. Hartman, Daniel J. Popeo, and Paul D. Kamenar.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the State of New York et al. by Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General of New York, Barbara G. Billet, Solicitor General, Peter H. Schiff, Deputy Solicitor General, and Maureen F. Leary, Assistant Attorney General, and by the Attorneys General for their respective jurisdictions as follows: Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, M. Jane Brady of Delaware, Thurbert E. Baker of Georgia, Calvin E. Holloway, Sr., of Guam, Margery S. Bronster of Hawaii, Pamela Fanning Carter of Indiana, Scott Harshbarger of Massachusetts, Jeremiah W. Nixon of Missouri, Philip T. McLaughlin of New Hampshire, Michael F. Easley of North Carolina, W. A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, William H. Sorrell of Vermont, James S. Gilmore III of Virginia, and Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., of West Virginia; and for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., et al. by James M. Hecker.
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