SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board has fined Redwood Debris Box Service Inc. of Burlingame and Mountainside Disposal Inc./Price Disposal Inc. of Bakersfield for violating air quality regulations related to diesel trucks they operate.

Redwood Debris Box Service agreed to pay $39,250 for violating the regulations. Mountainside Disposal/Price Disposal has paid $38,625 in penalties for its violations.

Separate investigations by the Air Resources Board showed each company failed to install legally required diesel particulate filters on its trucks by applicable compliance dates.  A diesel particulate filter is a device used to reduce harmful emissions. Each company also failed to properly self-inspect its diesel trucks to ensure they met state smoke emission standards.

Redwood Box Debris Service, which agreed early this year to pay $39,250 for violating air quality regulations, uses diesel trucks for solid waste collection. It provides services for recycling dirt, concrete, green waste, demolition and other materials. 

Mountainside Disposal has a 1,200-square-mile service area. It holds seven franchise agreements for trash collection services, including three with Kern County, and agreements with the cities of Bakersfield and Arvin and the counties of Los Angeles and Ventura. 

Mountainside agreed in April to pay the $38,625 fine and made its final payment in June. The company has no history of past violations. As part of the settlement, Mountainside Disposal also must ensure that staff members who are responsible for compliance with the diesel truck emission inspection program attend diesel education courses and provide certificates of completion within one year.

Seventy-five percent of each fine, or a combined $58,405.75, will go to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve the state’s air quality. The rest will go to Peralta Colleges Foundation to fund emission education classes conducted by participating California community colleges under the California Council for Diesel Education and Technology program.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40 other known cancer-causing compounds. In 1998, California identified diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to cause cancer, premature death and other health problems.