AB 1157

This bill abrogates the common law of public nuisance and codifies the law of

public nuisance.

The bill defines “public nuisance” to mean an unlawful condition that violates

a right common to the general public to use public real property, and the bill defines

“unlawful condition” to mean a condition, activity, or situation that is expressly

prohibited by the laws of this state. The bill provides that a person may be held liable

for creating or maintaining a public nuisance only if the person controls the public

nuisance at the time a cause of action for public nuisance arises.

The bill provides that only the following persons may maintain a public

nuisance action:

1. The state or the city, village, town, or county (political subdivision) that has

a substantial ownership interest in or authority over the real property, or the

ancillary space related to the real property, to which the public nuisance relates.

2. A nongovernmental person (private party) that suffers injuries peculiar to

the private party, so far as necessary to protect the private party's rights and to

obtain an injunction to prevent the same.

If the plaintiff is the state or a political subdivision (governmental body), all of

the following apply:

1. The governmental body may maintain the public nuisance action only by an

attorney employed by the governmental body.

2. If more than one governmental body is a plaintiff, there is a presumption that

only one governmental body has standing to maintain the action, and the court must,

on its own motion, determine which governmental bodies have standing.

3. The governmental body may not maintain the public nuisance action solely

to recover a financial expenditure of the governmental body related to the

remediation, abatement, or injunction of an unlawful condition.

If the plaintiff is a private party, all of the following apply:

1. The private party bears the burden of establishing by clear and convincing

evidence that the private party suffered an injury peculiar to the private party.

2. The fact that public real property has a spiritual, cultural, emotional, or

otherwise personal significance to a private party is not, by itself, sufficient to

establish that the use of or damage to the real property is an injury peculiar to the

private party.

3. The private party may not maintain both a public nuisance action and a

private nuisance action related to damages resulting from the same unlawful

condition.

The bill limits the remedies available in an action for public nuisance to only

the following:

1. Injunctive relief sufficient to abate the public nuisance.

2. Monetary damages in an amount reasonably necessary to abate the public