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CALIFORNIA'S STATE PRINTING OFFICE TO PAY $320,500 TO SETTLE ALLEGED POLLUTION VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 2/11/2000
Contact Information: Leo Kay, 415/744-2201

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with California's Office of State Printing that calls for the state agency to pay a $320,500 for allegedly violating numerous federal air, water and waste handling laws.

     Cal OSP has also agreed to meet interim limits on its air emissions, to obtain air pollution control permits, and to certify that its facility complies with federal environmental protection requirements.  The settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

     "We hold public agencies to just as high a standard as private industry when it comes to complying with environmental law," said U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Felicia Marcus.  "The penalty also demonstrates our strong commitment to protect air quality, especially in areas like Sacramento that already suffer from high ozone levels."

     Cal OSP is Sacramento County's eighth largest emitter of volatile organic compounds, or "VOCs," which are a major contributor to ground level ozone, or smog.  The agency operates 18 printing presses, many of which use inks and cleaning solvents that contain VOCs.


Alleged Clean Air Act Violations:


failed to obtain 55 air pollution control permits;

failed to apply the best available air pollution control technology to 53 pieces of equipment;

failed to offset its increases in air emissions;

exceeded air pollution emission limits on 292 days;
     
failed to properly store wastes in closed containers; and

failed to maintain required records.


Alleged Clean Water Act Violations:

Failed to conduct water pollution monitoring, and

exceeded the discharge limits of its water pollution control permits.


Alleged Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Violations:

Failed to make required hazardous waste determinations;

failed to properly label and inspect hazardous waste containers;

failed to provide adequate emergency equipment and training; and

failed to file required reports.


     U.S. EPA inspectors uncovered the alleged violations during a two-year investigation of Cal OSP's facility from 1994 through 1996.  The investigation included three facility inspections, six information requests, four months of monitoring, and four notices of violations.

     At the U.S. EPA's invitation, representatives of other state and local pollution control agencies attended the inspections and enforcement discussions, including representatives of the California Air Resources Board, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento County, and the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.
                               
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