Environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) has emerged as a key tool for Chinese Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to protect China’s natural resources and enforce existing environmental regulations. China’s new Environmental Protection Law came into effect on January 1, 2015, giving approximately 700 Chinese NGOs standing to bring EPIL suits for the first time in Chinese history. This project aims to provide guidance to Chinese EPIL lawyers by outlining selected developments of EPIL in the United States over the past 40 years. The project comes at a crucial time for Chinese EPIL, as the success or failure of these early cases will have major implications for the future of environmental law and regulation in China.