Is there a pathway?
The first step is not “do I have a case” — it’s “what kind of situation is this, and what legal pathways does it sometimes travel.” OSED’s intake skill is built to answer that and route you on. It never decides the merits.
Describe a situation, not a violation
Write down what you can observe, as a situation rather than an accusation. “A facility near us may be discharging into the creek, and the county has approved permits we’re worried about” — not “the county illegally permitted pollution.” Whether anyone broke the law is for an attorney to assess; your job now is just to describe what you see and what you’ve gathered.
The candidate pathways
These are the common citizen-accessible pathways a situation might travel. This is a map of options, not a recommendation to take any of them, and not every pathway is one OSED drafts today.
| If the concern sounds like… | Likely pathway | Does OSED draft it? |
|---|---|---|
| Water pollution or discharges into a waterway | Clean Water Act citizen suit / deadline duty | Yes — notice → complaint |
| Air pollution near a source (emission violation) | Clean Air Act §304(a)(1) citizen suit | Yes — §304(a)(1) notice |
| An agency missed a mandatory, deadline-bound duty | Deadline (“failure to act”) suit | Yes — notice → complaint |
| A rule should exist or be updated and isn’t | Administrative rulemaking petition | Yes — petition |
| A state-constitution environmental right may apply | State environmental-rights act | Yes — state packet (PA/MT/NY/HI) |
| Hazardous or solid waste, dumping, contamination | RCRA | No — talk to counsel |
| Harm to a listed species or its habitat | Endangered Species Act | No — talk to counsel |
| A federal project skipping environmental review | NEPA | No — talk to counsel |
Where OSED covers a pathway, it can prepare a flagged draft. Where it doesn’t, it says so plainly and points you to a lawyer — it never implies a capability it doesn’t have.
The clock is real
Many of these pathways carry deadlines — notice periods, limitations, comment windows — that can permanently foreclose an option if missed. The software does not track any deadline. Confirm any deadline with a lawyer right away.
Next: what each pathway is, or go straight to finding a lawyer.