Air Resources Board fines nine companies under greenhouse gas reporting rule
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SACRAMENTO - Nine companies have been fined by the California Air Resources Board for violations of the state’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting rule. That rule requires facilities, including those covered by California’s cap-and-trade regulation, to report their greenhouse gas emissions annually.
“Accurate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is the foundation of our efforts to reduce carbon pollution from the state’s energy and industrial sectors,” said Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “We will continue to vigorously enforce the mandatory reporting rule to ensure that every company follows all its requirements.”
California’s Mandatory Reporting Rule, adopted by ARB in 2007, requires facilities that emit more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually to report their emissions. About 600 facilities have been reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to the Air Resources Board since 2008.
Industrial facilities must report each April, and utilities must do so each June. Those reports are then checked for accuracy and verified by ARB-trained independent third parties with oversight by ARB staff. The final reports are published on ARB’s website each fall. The rule ensures that California has the most rigorous and stringently verified greenhouse gas reporting process in the world.
The reporting compliance rate for 2012 was 97 percent. Nine companies have been fined for failure to supply complete information by the appropriate deadlines for either the reporting or verification stages. In addition to paying these fines, the violators must provide the Air Resources Board with plans for complete and accurate data collection and reporting in the future. The companies fined are:
| ExxonMobil Oil Corporation | $120,000 |
| DG Fairhaven Power, LLC | $55,000 |
| Vintage Production California, LLC | $35,000 |
| Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | $20,000 |
| Veneco, Inc. | $20,000 |
| Cemex Construction Materials, LLC | $15,000 |
| Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. | $10,000 |
| Lhoist North America of Arizona, Inc. | $10,000 |
| Tidelands Production Co. | $10,000 |
The settlement agreements are available at: https://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/casesett/casesett.htm
Emissions reported by facility under the Mandatory Reporting Rule can be viewed here: https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/reporting/ghg-rep/reported_data/ghg-reports.htm
Locate facilities emitting greenhouse gas in your area, and compare to other facilities through interactive Google Earth map here: https://www.arb.ca.gov/ei/tools/ghgfacilities/