Cite as: 528 U. S. 167 (2000)
Scalia, J., dissenting
serves only to disguise the fact that it has promulgated a revolutionary new doctrine of standing that will permit the entire body of public civil penalties to be handed over to enforcement by private interests.
C
Article II of the Constitution commits it to the President to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," Art. II, § 3, and provides specific methods by which all persons exercising significant executive power are to be appointed, Art. II, § 2. As Justice Kennedy's concurrence correctly observes, the question of the conformity of this legislation with Article II has not been argued—and I, like the Court, do not address it. But Article III, no less than Article II, has consequences for the structure of our government, see Schlesinger, 418 U. S., at 222, and it is worth noting the changes in that structure which today's decision allows.
By permitting citizens to pursue civil penalties payable to the Federal Treasury, the Act does not provide a mechanism for individual relief in any traditional sense, but turns over to private citizens the function of enforcing the law. A Clean Water Act plaintiff pursuing civil penalties acts as a self-appointed mini-EPA. Where, as is often the case, the plaintiff is a national association, it has significant discretion in choosing enforcement targets. Once the association is aware of a reported violation, it need not look long for an injured member, at least under the theory of injury the Court applies today. See supra, at 198-201. And once the target is chosen, the suit goes forward without meaningful public control.2 The availability of civil penalties vastly dis-2 The Court points out that the Government is allowed to intervene in a citizen suit, see ante, at 188, n. 4; 33 U. S. C. § 1365(c)(2), but this power to "bring the Government's views to the attention of the court," ante, at 188, n. 4, is meager substitute for the power to decide whether prosecution will occur. Indeed, according the Chief Executive of the United States the ability to intervene does no more than place him on a par with John
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