The California Air Resources Board recently fined three companies more than $330,000 total for violating the state’s air quality laws.
The issue was brought to the attention of CARB enforcement personnel during a routine inspection of New Bern’s smoke testing records, which brought to light the extent of the violations. As part of the settlement, the responsible New Bern employees will attend a mandatory diesel education and technology class and provide certificates of completion within one year, place emissions control labels on all of their heavy-duty vehicles and bring them up to federal emissions standards, and provide documentation for the next four years that smoke inspections are being carried out on schedule.
CARB will place $210,094 into the California Air Pollution Control Fund; this fund uses settlement fines to conduct air pollution research and fund several programs aimed at reducing emissions, while also educating the public on pollution prevention. The remaining $70,031 will go to the Peralta Community College District to fund diesel education classes.