Massachusetts District Court Holds that Breathing in Polluted Air Without a Concrete Injury Traceable to the Defendant Does Not Confer Standing Under the Clean Air Act

September 29, 2023
Brielle A. Brown
MGKF Litigation Blog

On September 14, 2023, in Conservation Law Foundation v. Academy Bus, a Massachusetts District Court held that the members of the Conservation Law Foundation (the “Foundation”) lacked standing to challenge the idling of buses under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”).  Conservation Law Found. v. Acad. ExpressLLC., No. 20-10032-WGY, 2023 WL 5984517, at *1 (D. Mass. Sept. 14, 2023). Specifically, the court held that simply breathing in polluted air, without any concrete injury that is fairly traceable to the defendant, is not sufficient to prove an actual injury under the CAA.

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