By CCJ Staff
The California Air Resources Board has fined a Camarillo-based business $9,500 for failing to properly inspect its diesel truck fleet for smoke emissions. CARB says an investigation showed that Pacific Sod — a subsidiary of Pacific Earth Resources — failed to test, measure, record and maintain records for its diesel trucks in 2007 and 2008 at its terminals in Camarillo and Patterson.
As part of the penalty, Pacific Sod 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 CARB 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; and
· Ensure all diesel trucks are up to federal emissions standards for the vehicle model year and are labeled properly with an emissions control label.
Pacific Sod paid $9,500 in penalties: $7,125 went to the California Air Pollution Control Fund for projects and research to improve California’s air quality; the Peralta Community College District received $1,187.50 to fund emissions education classes conducted by participating California community colleges; and the remaining $1,187.50 went to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, which guarantees loans to offroad vehicle fleets that need to buy exhaust retrofits to comply with state regulations.
