San Jose, CA — A California utility provider has reached a first-of-its-kind settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency related to allegations that the company violated the Chemical Safety Board’s accidental release reporting rule.
A CSB press release states that the settlement “marks the first-ever enforcement action resolved” under the 2020 rule. In 2024, CSB and EPA signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to work together “in the area of accidental chemical releases, including emergency response, investigations, prevention and research.”
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will pay $45,273 in civil penalties for failing to report an injury stemming from a June 2023 incident involving an incidental leak from a natural gas pipeline at a San Jose facility.
Consent agreement documents show that a worker was seriously injured and hospitalized overnight as a result. The company didn’t inform CSB of the injury within eight hours, as required under the accidental release reporting rule.
“This matter underscores the importance of timely and accurate reporting to the CSB,” agency Chair Steve Owens said. “When companies fail to report serious chemical releases like this, they impede the CSB’s ability to carry out the agency’s core mission to conduct independent investigations of these incidents and help prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.”
Cecil Rodrigues, deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said the settlement “clearly signals that EPA will hold companies accountable for not providing CSB with essential information and the potential for loss of life, injury or property damage.”
