CARB
Levies $532,875 Fine to Close Out 2016
“Punitive…Rather
Than Compensatory”
Make no bones about it, they will find you. And when
they find you, they will fine you…eventually. Now that CARB has audited some of
the largest fleets operating in California, requesting smoke testing data,
truck and bus compliance, contractor info, ECL proof, drayage compliance, TRU
compliance, idling polices, maintenance practices etc…it is just a matter of
time before they lock their sights on the remaining fleets who have been flying
under the radar and avoiding the rules for years.
CARB performs thousands of roadside inspections
annually. In 2015, they executed close to 18,000 inspections on diesel trucks
alone. While 129 “diesel investigations” for the truck and bus rule were settled
in 2015, only 26% of all investigations across the diesel program suite resulted
in a compliance finding. Although 26% is a low compliance rate, in reality, the
smaller number comes from a more efficient approach.
CARB has shifted their enforcement tactics away from
“complaint and referral” to a “smart audit” approach. This new tactic is leading them towards the
non-compliant carriers and away from the law-abiding folks who can’t be
bothered anyway since they are constantly on the road, turnin’ and earnin’ to
pay for all the new equipment has CARB scooched them into over the last 5 years.
Smart audit or otherwise, you don’t have to be a
genius to figure out that if you register your trucks with the DMV, then CARB
has carte blanche access to that data for enforcement purposes. Despite what
many would call the “shortcomings” of DMV customer service, you can bet dollars
to DEF fluid that with the push of a button all registration information for
any particular carrier registered in California can be shuttled over to CARB
headquarters lickety-split.
During an audit, CARB throws pretty much everything
at the fleet to see what sticks. In Penske’s case, it's likely that they didn’t
realize they had 3 MHD vehicles with pre 1995 engines actively registered as non-compliant for almost 24 months until CARB told them. Typically,
each violation of the truck and bus rule is supposed to receive a $1000, per
month, per truck fine. However, several factors come into play in how severe the citation
is.
Factors such as, "extent of harm to public health,
safety and welfare caused by the violation; Nature and persistence of the
violation, including the magnitude of the excess emissions; Compliance history of the company, including
the frequency of past violations; Preventive efforts taken by the company,
including the record of maintenance and any program to ensure compliance....Efforts of the company to attain, or provide
for, compliance; Cooperation of the company during the course of the
investigation and any action taken by the company, including the nature,
extent, and time of response of any action taken to mitigate the violation; and
finally, The financial burden to the company".
Notice the very last consideration is the financial
burden of the company. It is not that CARB is full of leather clad sadists; it’s
that they need these penalties to sting. In part to punish the company in violation
but to also act as a deterrent to any would-be scallywags who are skirting or thinking
of skirting the rules (not to be confused with skirting the trailer).
Nevertheless, Penske is not alone. Hundreds of fleets (and hundreds more) have
received citations or can expect something from the air police sooner than
later. CARB’s smart audit approach has already shown its effectiveness and the 2016
enforcement efforts should eclipse the 2015 statistics. They are sighting the non-compliant
carriers, punishing them with fines and releasing them back into the wild as
tagged game. For those who have already spent the money for compliance this is promising
news; better late than never, but eventually, nonetheless.
Stay Tuned!
