California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO -The California Air Resources Board fined Costco Wholesale Corp., of Issaquah, Wash., $40,200 last week for failure to comply with state transport refrigeration unit laws.

ARB inspectors found that Costco filed late and incomplete reports for its Mira Loma and Tracy, Calif., distribution facilities, violating the Transport Refrigeration Unit facilities regulation.

Facilities with 20 or more cold storage loading docks are required to monitor, keep records and report activities that create emissions, including diesel-powered refrigeration units mounted on trucks, trailers, shipping containers and rail cars. These activities take place during the loading and unloading of perishables goods at distribution centers around the state.

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 $30,150 and the Peralta Community College District will get $10,050 from Costco to fund diesel education courses. The company also voluntarily provided additional information about operating schedules, facility diagrams and estimated loading and idling times at the two facilities in question to ARB investigators.

A decade ago, the ARB listed diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant in order to protect public health. Since then, 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.