In our last post, we discussed the most common reasons facilities receive a notice of violation from the SCAQMD. But just how much does it cost to resolve an NOV? Sure, there are penalty fees involved. But sometimes resolution costs more than just paying the settlement to the Air District.
Like so many other questions in life, the answer to this question is: It depends. There are numerous factors that go into determining the penalty fee alone, including the length of the violation, the frequency of past violations, the economic advantage gained by operating equipment in violation, and any actions taken to mitigate the violation — to name just a few. (You can read more about this in “What Happens After You Get an SCAQMD Notice of Violation (NOV)?”)
The range for settlement costs for the top violations is huge. For Rule 203, it’s $50 to $8.1 million. (Yes, that’s fifty dollars, not fifty million.) To complicate matters even further, the SCAQMD typically settles multiple violations as a single case with a single cost. That makes it doubly difficult to determine the average settlement cost for a single rule violation.
And that’s just the penalty fees. You might have to pay more than just the settlement cost to get back in good odor with the SCAQMD. Full resolution of your NOV might involve costs such as purchasing equipment, which of course comes with installation and commissioning costs, not to mention the probable permitting fees. If your situation is particularly problematic, you may have to hire consultants and/or attorneys (who, while often costly, can help mitigate the overall expense, thus justifying what might seem like unreasonable rates). Taking all those possible expenditures into consideration, the final cost to resolve the NOV can vary so much that it’s very hard to give even a ballpark range.
Or you can go with what the data shows: $50 to $8.1 million.
Need help resolving an NOV? Contact us and we’ll help guide you to a resolution that’s as cost-effective and painless as possible.
