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• Louisiana Mercury Risk Reduction Act - Proposed Rule Released by LDEQ
  By Laura Hart I.  LDEQ Recently Issued Proposed Rule Pursuant to Louisiana Mercury Risk Reduction Act to Reduce Use of Mercury-Containing Products and to Force Proper Disposal or Recycling of Mercury-Containing Products In the August 2008 publication of the Louisiana Register, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) issued a proposed rule that will supplement the procedures and requirements set forth in the Louisiana Mercury Risk Reduction Act (La. R.S. 30:2571–2588) for manufacturers of mercury-added products offered for sale, users of mercury-added products in drinking water and wastewater treatment systems, and dismantlers of end-of-life productions that contain mercury-added products within Louisiana (hereinafter “Proposed Rule”). See, La. Admin. Code Tit. 33, §§ 2701, 2703, 2705, 2707, 2709, 2711, 2713, 2715, 2717, 2719, and 2721 (2008). The Proposed Rule was published after the LDEQ’s consideration of numerous ....
• Keeping Up With Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Regulations
  By T. Shane Sandefer Several developments concerning the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations occurred in 2006 and 2007. Thoughtful planning and continued tracking of these developments will be necessary to ensure compliance. EPA revised the SPCC plan requirements in 2006 to: Provide the option to self-certify SPCC Plans in lieu of review and certification by a Professional Engineer for facilities that have an aboveground oil storage capacity of 10,000 gallons or less and meet other qualifying criteria. Provide an alternative to the general secondary containment requirement without requiring a determination of impracticability for qualified oil-filled operational equipment. Define and exempt particular vehicle fuel tanks and other on-board bulk oil storage containers (called motive power containers). Exempt mobile refuelers from the sized secondary containment requirements for bulk storage containers. Remove SPCC requirements for animal fats and vegetable ....
• Recent Daubert Challenges to Experts in Environmental Litigation
  By Esteban Herrera and Richard McConnell Environmental litigators face unique challenges in dealing with the expert phase of a lawsuit.  For example, a lawsuit involving alleged environmental contamination of soil, groundwater, or surface waters may require the use of experts such as environmental/civil engineers, hydrogeologists, hydrologists, geologists, soil scientists, agronomists, analytical chemists, toxicologists, environmental chemists, risk assessment experts, wetlands scientists, health physicists, biologists, and statisticians.  These experts must often present difficult and complicated technical information in a way that can be understood by judges, lawyers, and juries, who in most cases are not engineers and scientists.  In some cases, environmental litigators face the task of having to deal with many of these disciplines simultaneously.  Before any of these experts can testify at trial, however, each expert and his or her work must satisfy evidentiary ....