William A. Fletcher

“ Where it is arguable whether a plaintiff has suffered sufficient injury to satisfy Article III, the Supreme Court has sometimes insisted as a matter of "prudence" that Congress make its intention clear before it will construe a statute to confer standing on a particular plaintiff. ”

“ But, as discussed above, Section 10 (a) of the APA does not define "person" to include animals. No court has ever held that an animal-even a marine mammal whose protection is at stake-has standing to sue in its own name to require that a party seek a permit or letter of authorization under the MMPA. See Citizens to End Animal Suffering & Exploitation, Inc., 836 F.Supp. at 49 (rejecting such a suit) . Absent a clear direction from Congress in either the MMPA or the APA, we hold that animals do not have standing to enforce the permit requirement of the MMPA.
4. ”

“ The phrase "private right of action" is sometimes used in the context of administrative law to refer to a right to challenge administrative action that is explicitly and directly provided by a particular statute, in contrast to a right to challenge administrative action granted only when the statute is read with the gloss of Section 10 (a) of the APA. See, e.g., Lujan v. ”

“ The Cetaceans allege that the Navy has violated, or will violate, the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") , 16 U.S.C. § § 1531-1544, the Marine Mammal Protection Act ("MMPA") , 16 U.S.C. § § 1371-1421h, and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") , 16 U.S.C. § § 4321-4347.
The Navy has developed SURTASS LFAS to assist in detecting quiet submarines at long range. This sonar has both active and passive components. The active component consists of low frequency underwater transmitters. These transmitters emit loud sonar pulses, or "pings," that can travel hundreds of miles through the water. ”

“ The complaint presents no evidence that the Cetaceans comprise a formal association, nor can we read into the term "association" in the APA a desire by Congress to confer standing on a non-human species as a group, any more than we can read into the term "person" Congressional intent to confer standing on individual animals. ”

“ In other instances, humans whose interests are affected by the existence or welfare of animals are granted standing to bring civil suits to enforce statutory duties that protect these animals. The ESA and the MMPA are good examples of such statutes. ”

“ The ESA contains an explicit definition of the "person" who is authorized to enforce the statute: The term "person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or an other private entity ”