SACRAMENTO –
The
California Air Resources Board has fined an Oxnard-based trucking firm
$6,000
this month for diesel truck emission violations that occurred in 2006.
An
ARB fleet audit found that Hoskins Brothers Trucking,
Inc. had not been annually inspecting its heavy-duty diesel vehicles,
as
required by California
law. Not performing the required smoke inspections can lead to
increased
cancer-causing diesel emissions.
“The
particulate matter emitted by heavy duty diesel trucks
is very harmful to the public’s health,” said ARB Chairman Mary
Nichols. “By
inspecting their trucks, companies can directly impact the health of
their
community.”
As
part of the settlement, Hoskins must comply with the
following:
- Guarantee
employees that are responsible for conducting the inspections attend a
mandatory California
community college training class on diesel emissions and provide
certificates of completion within one year;
- Instruct employees
and drivers on ARB’s truck idling regulations;
- Ensure that trucks
have the most recent Low-NOx software installed;
- Provide
documentation to ARB that the inspections are being carried out for the
next four years; and,
- Ensure that all
diesel trucks are up to federal emissions standards for the vehicle
model year and are properly labeled with the manufacturer’s factory
engine certification label.
The company will pay $6,000 in penalties: $4,500 will go to
the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for
projects
and research to improve California’s air quality, $750 will go to
Peralta
Community College District to fund emission education classes conducted
by
participating California community colleges under the California
Council for Diesel
Education and Technology, and the remaining $750 will go to the
California
Pollution Control Financing Authority.
A decade ago, the ARB listed diesel
particulate matter as a
toxic air contaminant in order to protect public health. Exposure to
unsafe
levels of diesel emissions can increase the risk of asthma, bronchitis,
and
other respiratory diseases. California
has aggressively worked to cut diesel emissions by cleaning up diesel
fuel, requiring
cleaner engines for trucks, buses and off-road equipment, and limiting
unnecessary idling.
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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