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newsrel -- Victor Valley Transit fined for air quality violations

Posted: 02 Mar 2009 12:18:15
All diesel fleets in California must be regularly inspected for
emissions compliance. 

Release 09-17
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2009
	  	  	
Karen Caesar
(626) 575-6728
www.arb.ca.gov

Victor Valley Transit fined for air quality violations


SACRAMENTO: The California Air Resources Board has fined Victor
Valley Transit Authority $3,500 for failure to inspect its diesel
truck fleet for smoke emissions during 2006.

An ARB investigation showed that Victor Valley Transit Authority
failed to meet the transit fleet vehicle requirements. In
addition, they did not inspect their heavy-duty vehicles. The law
requires owners of California-registered truck and bus fleets to
regularly inspect their vehicles to ensure that their engine
emissions meet state air quality standards.

"California clean-air laws are written to protect our most
vulnerable populations, including children and the elderly," said
ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "Through their actions, public transit
agencies that ignore air pollution laws essentially convey that
public health is unimportant."

As part of the settlement, the transit authority is required
to:

    * Guarantee employees responsible for conducting the
inspections attend a training class on diesel emissions
compliance testing and provide certificates of completion within
one year;
    * Provide documentation to ARB that the inspections are
being carried out for the next four years;
    * Ensure all heavy-duty diesel vehicles have their software
updated with the latest Low-NOx (oxides of nitrogen emissions)
programming;
    * Instruct vehicle operators to comply with the state's
idling regulations;
    * Comply with requirements of the fleet rule for transit
agencies; and,
    * Ensure all diesel trucks are up to federal emissions
standards for the vehicle model year and are properly labeled
with an emission control label. 

Victor Valley Transit Authority will pay $3,500 in penalties:
$2,625.50 will go to the California Air Pollution Control Fund,
providing funding for projects and research to improve
California's air quality. The Peralta Community College District
will receive the $437.50 to fund emissions education classes
conducted by participating California community colleges. The
California Pollution Control Financing Authority will receive the
remaining $437.50 to fund low-interest loans for owners of
off-road diesel-powered construction vehicles.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40
other known cancer-causing substances. In 1998, California
identified diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant based on its
potential to cause cancer, premature death and other health
problems. New research links vehicle exhaust and lung cancer
mortality in trucking industry workers exposed to diesel and
other types of vehicle emissions with increasing years of work.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

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