New law will triple fines for Chevron and other large polluters

Rafael Castro-Chavez was 13 years old when he heard a loud explosion in August 2012. He darted outside his North Richmond apartment and noticed his neighbors pointing toward the Chevron refinery, saying, “Hay un incendio!” 

As he turned to look, flames rose from the facility, and a large plume of black smoke advanced over his street. 

“They were telling us in the news that there is a lockdown and that it is not recommended for the community to go out,” Chavez said. 

Confused and fearful for the health of his family, Chavez began covering every crevice in his apartment with wet towels to keep contaminants out, a trick he had learned in chemistry class. 

Some of the effects from the event would be revealed the next day, Chavez said, including information about hospital visits for itchy, dry eyes and respiratory problems.

Six months after that fire at the Chevron Richmond refinery, a bill would be introduced in the California Legislature that would increase the penalties for air quality violations from major emitters. Over a decade later, a version of that bill has passed. 

On Sept. 20, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that triples the penalty ceilings for air quality violations at refineries, landfills and some other large industries. 

“I feel like it’s very important to pass bills like this because it does continuously try to hold major polluters accountable, which is something that we struggle to try to do here in Richmond,” said Chavez, who is 25 years old and works as a Just Transition organizer at Urban Tilth. 

Assembly Bill 1465 was introduced in early 2023 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who represents Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The bill was also sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. 

BAAQMD chose to sponsor the bill because the penalty structure had not been significantly updated since 2001, said Alan Abbs, Air District legislative officer. The lack of language regarding community consideration in the health and safety code was another reason for the Air District’s sponsorship. 

The new legislation instructs “courts and air districts to consider health impacts, community disruptions and other factors when determining penalties for air quality violations,” according to a BAAQMD news release. 

The Air District, which assesses and enforces penalties in the Bay Area, recently instituted a policy that outlines how penalty funds will be allocated. Under this new policy, 50% of funds will go to the local community when the fine exceeds $100,000, while 80% will go to the local community when the fine exceeds $1 million. 

Additionally, the bill gives more leverage to enforcement agencies to increase fines when communities are subjected to pollution. But it also attempts to deter Clean Air violations in the first place, by making it possible to fine violators up to $300,000 per violation when serious injury and negligence are proven. In some cases where death happens, corporations could be liable for up to $3 million. 

“The purpose of this bill is not necessarily to get more money in fines from violators, but it’s also to change the attitude that some of these facilities might have in terms of looking at their own cost-benefit analysis,” Abbs said. 

‘Small cost of doing dirty business’

Critics of the bill are skeptical that the higher fines are will deter companies such as Chevron, which reported $21 billion in earnings last year. 

“Any step, however small, to lift the pollution burden from suffering communities is a step in the right direction,” said Shoshana Wechsler, co-coordinator of Sunflower Alliance, a Bay Area environmental justice organization. She added, however, that tripling the somewhat modest penalties isn’t likely to force a change in course for corporations that reap billions in profits. 

“For them, it’s just another small cost of doing dirty business, and nowhere close to the high price paid by impacted communities,” she said.

Still, Wicks expects the law to prompt industries to comply more with air regulations. “I think it’s a significant step forward to reducing industrial pollution in West County and safeguarding public health in our local community,” she said. 

Chevron deferred comments to the Western States Petroleum Association, a lobbyist organization that represents several major oil companies. WSPA told Richmond Confidential that it was neutral on the bill. However, until about a month before the bill passed, WSPA had  opposed it, unless it was amended. Only one of its proposed amendments — to have the bill apply equally to all major industrial facilities — was adopted. 

Addressing respiratory health

A BAAQMD study released in April found that the Chevron refinery alone accounts for 63% of certain particulate matter in the Richmond-San Pablo area. The EPA defines particulate matter as a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. In the Richmond area, PM 2.5 is prevalent. It is roughly 30 times smaller than the diameter of a hair follicle, enabling  it to get deep into the lungs and sometimes into the bloodstream. 

“It can cross the blood-brain barrier, which is part of why its health consequences are so devastating,” said Dr. Amanda Millstein, a Bay Area pediatrician and Climate Health Now co-founder. “It gets into our lungs. It gets into our blood.” 

The particulate matter is especially dangerous for babies and kids because their organs are still developing, Millstein said. Studies have shown that Richmond residents have higher rates of asthma, cancer and other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, with evidence pointing to the refinery as a key source of air pollution that can cause such illnesses.

Millstein, who practices pediatrics in Richmond and Oakland, said establishing anti-pollution legislation such as AB 1465 is important in protecting the health of communities like Richmond that are more vulnerable to climate change and other environmental stressors.

Wicks said it will take time to determine if the law is effective.

“My hope is ultimately the success will be measured by the outcome,” Wicks said. “And if the outcome is a reduction in air pollution, then we’ve won. And if this doesn’t result in that, then we’ll keep going back at it to make sure that our communities are healthy and kept safe.”

(Top photo by Riley Ramirez)

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