Air District fines Chevron $900,000 for air monitoring violations

The Air District requires companies like Chevron to use air monitoring systems to augment the Air District’s own inspection and monitoring protocols. These systems add an important tool to the Air District’s enforcement toolbox to ensure compliance and hold companies accountable when they commit violations. The Air District regularly checks these monitors to ensure they are working correctly.

During a recent audit, the Air District found 20 of Chevron’s monitors were not properly configured to detect the full range of potential emissions and were limited in how much emissions they could measure. This means that if emissions increase beyond legal limits, they could go undetected and unreported, leaving both Chevron and the Air District without critical information about real-time air quality impacts. To address these deficiencies, the Air District required Chevron to upgrade the monitors to ensure accurate measuring of high emissions levels. When Chevron failed to implement the upgrades by the required deadline, the Air District issued nine notices of violation.

Chevron has addressed all the cited monitors, and the Air District is reviewing certification test results to confirm that they are all now working properly.

The Air District issues notices of violation when facilities violate air quality regulations or rules. Violators are generally required to respond to the notice within 10 days and submit a description of the actions they will take to correct the problem. These actions can include shutting down certain operations immediately or changing operations or equipment to come into compliance.

In 2024, the Bay Area Air District’s Board of Directors adopted a policy directing a portion of collected penalty funds to be used in the community that is impacted by the violation. These funds will support local projects aimed at reducing pollution and improving public health.

View press release(219 Kb PDF, 2 pgs, posted 02/12/2025).