Montana § 27-30-207 - Private Cause Of Action For Public Nuisance

§ 27-30-207. Private Cause Of Action For Public Nuisance

Private cause of action for public nuisance. (1) A public nuisance cause of action is available to a private person only if that person has sustained a special injury proximately caused by the public nuisance and only if the person can show the existence of the special injury by clear and convincing evidence. (2) A special injury is an injury that is different in kind, not just in degree, from an injury sustained by the general public exercising the same public right. A special injury is not one based upon impairment of the spiritual, cultural, or emotional significance associated with a navigable lake, river, bay, stream, canal, or basin or a public park, square, street, road, or highway. (3) Financial expenditures made by a private person related to an injunction of, or any other response to, a public nuisance does not constitute a special injury sufficient to confer standing on the person to file or maintain a public nuisance action. (4) The remedy available to a private person in a public nuisance action is limited solely to compensatory damages for the special injury. (5) The abatement of a public nuisance pursuant to 27-30-204 does not preclude the right of a person to recover compensatory damages under this section. (6) Private persons may not bring a class action for special injuries arising out of a public nuisance.