ARB settles air quality violations with Massachusetts company for $55,500

Settlement funds to be split between Peralta Community College and clean-air fund

Sacramento - The California Air Resources Board last month settled with a Norwell, Mass., heavy-duty diesel fleet for $55,500 for failing to inspect its trucks for compliance with smoke emissions standards at fleet centers throughout the state.

ARB investigators found that Clean Harbors Environmental Services, failed to conduct diesel truck smoke tests in 2008 and 2009, as required by state law. Clean Harbors provides environmental services and emergency response for the transportation industry.

“Trucking in California requires fleet owners ensure that their rigs are clean,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “Failure to meet emissions standards jeopardizes public health and also creates an unfair playing field for those companies who follow the law.”

Under the settlement, Clean Harbors must:

• Ensure that staff responsible for compliance with the diesel truck emission inspection program attend diesel education courses and provide certificates of completion within one year;
• Instruct vehicle operators to comply with the state’s idling regulations;
• Complete heavy-duty diesel engine software and control technology upgrades in compliance with regulations;
• Supply all smoke inspection records to ARB for the next four years; and,
• Properly label engines to ensure compliance with engine emissions certification regulations.

The California Air Pollution Control Fund, established to mitigate various sources of pollution through education and the advancement and use of cleaner technology, will receive $41,625, and the remaining $13,875 will go to the Peralta Community College District to fund diesel education classes throughout the state.

Failure to inspect diesel vehicles can lead to an increase in harmful airborne particles that Californians breathe. In 1998, the ARB listed diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant in order to protect public health. Exposure to diesel emissions can increase the risk of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases.