Enforcement Practices
PLEASE NOTE: The AVAQMD has substantial enforcement discretion regarding ALL alleged violations and may elect to use alternative enforcement practices and/or methods of determining penalties based upon the facts involved with a particular alleged violation. The enforcement practices described below may or may not be applied to any specific alleged violation.
The District has standard practices regarding the enforcement of violations of the air pollution control laws. In general, it is the practice of the District to issue Notices to Comply (NTCs) and Notices of Violation (NOVs) to give notice of and document an alleged violation of the California Clean Air Act (Health & Safety Code Section §§39000 et seq.); of any order, permit, rule or regulation of the California Air Resources Board; of any order, permit, rule or regulation of the District; or of any order of the District Hearing Board. While each alleged violation of the air pollution control laws is evaluated as a unique situation such alleged violations are handled according to the same practices.
In general, alleged violations are identified during an inspection by a member of the District staff. Alleged violations may also be identified during document reviews, when a facility fails to submit information requested by the District, or as a result of a public complaint. Once an alleged violation has been identified District staff will determine whether the violation is subject to educational enforcement or whether an NTC or NOV will be issued.
Once the underlying cause of the alleged violation has been corrected the enforcement action may be referred to the Mutual Settlement Program (MSP). Initial mutual settlement offers are determined using a worksheet based upon the base amount determined for a particular violation type under the Health & Safety Code §42400 et seq. Designated civil penalties have been assigned for particular types of violations which may be used as an alternative to a penalty amount calculated via the worksheet..