On January 18, 2008 (73 FR 3568–3614), EPA issued new source performance standards (NSPS) and maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards applicable to stationary internal combustion engines, which EPA estimates will affect 150,000 stationary spark ignition engines by 2015.

DC Circuit Court Vacates Cap-and-Trade Program for Mercury Emissions

In a February 8, 2008 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated EPA’s cap-and-trade program intended to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired electric utilities (New Jersey v. EPA, No. 05-1097 [D.C. Cir. Feb. 8, 2008]), and held that electric generating units must be regulated under CAA Section 112 standards, rather than the Section 111-based standards of the clean air mercury rule.

Appeals Court Rules That Useful Product Defense May Not Apply in Lead Recycler Case

On November 28, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that sales of lead-containing materials to a lead recycler fall within CERCLA’s useful product defense doctrine and, thus, the involved companies were not liable as arrangers for disposal or treatment of hazardous waste. (California Department of Toxic Substances Control v. Alco Pacific, Inc., No. 05-55962 [9th Cir., Nov. 28, 2007]).

Sentences for Clean Water Act Violations Upheld

In a February 1, 2008 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the prison sentences handed down in a Mississippi case involving the installation of septic systems on wetlands (United States v. Lucas, No. 06-60289 [5th Cir. Feb. 1, 2008), and held that the waters in question met the Rapanos tests for being considered “waters of the United States.”

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Developments in Coal Combustion and Carbon Capture

Burning coal produces one-half of US electricity and one-third of its carbon emissions—with a carbon cap-and-trade system fast approaching in the United States, interest in carbon capture and sequestration runs high.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels Raise Carbon Emissions Much More Than Oil

Almost all biofuels used today cause far more carbon emissions than conventional fuels, when the carbon emissions from land use changes to produce them are considered, as the destruction of natural ecosystems releases very large amounts of carbon into the air.