Best Energy Solutions & Technology Corp. Settlement
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Best Energy Solutions & Technology Corp. Settles for $11,090,000
In July 2024, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reached a settlement with Best Energy Solutions & Technology Corp. (BEST Corp.), with its principal location in Bakersfield, California, in the amount of $11,090,000. This settlement resolves CARB’s enforcement action against BEST Corp. commenced by the Attorney General in May 2022 (Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22STCV32487), in People ex rel. CARB v. BEST Corp., et alia, arising from the company’s alleged fraud and violation of the California Code of Regulations, title 13, Ch. 5, Art. 3, App’x 1 to Subart. 2.
CARB's complaint against BEST Corp. alleges that BEST Corp. violated CARB's Regulation on Commercialization of Alternative Diesel Fuels (ADF Regulation, title 13, California Code of Regulations, section 2293 et seq.). Specifically, CARB alleged that the testing protocol BEST Corp. submitted to CARB in support of CARB’s 2018 certification of a NOx emissions mitigation additive for use in biodiesel blends under Appendix 1 of the ADF Regulation misrepresented the fuel properties of the reference and candidate testing fuels, and included an undisclosed NOx-reducing agent in the candidate fuel. CARB alleged that, by this deception, BEST Corp. made it appear that the additized biodiesel had achieved NOx emissions equivalence to CARB Diesel, when in fact the additive had no such effect.
The terms of the settlement prohibit BEST Corp.’s participation in California’s ADF market or certified diesel fuel formulation market for a period of 10 years. BEST Corp. is required to pay a penalty of $150,000, with an amount of $10,940,000 being suspended, as long as BEST Corp. does not violate the business prohibition terms of the Settlement Agreement. The $150,000 will be deposited into CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California's air quality.