California Steel Industries, Inc. was one of thirteen companies recently recognized by the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest Office for voluntarily disclosing and quickly correcting their federal Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act violations.

In return for the prompt disclosure and correction, the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest Office dropped penalties ranging from $5,000 to $98,000 to businesses in the Bay Area and southern and central California. Collectively, the thirteen California companies saved $586,054 in potential penalties for voluntarily disclosing and quickly correcting their federal Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act violations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. California Steel faced a potential fine of $55,000 for failure to report manganese for 2000 and 2001.

"This is a win for communities, for business, and for the EPA," said Enrique Manzanilla, the EPA's Communities and Ecosystems Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "The public now has accurate information about chemicals released in their communities, and because these companies quickly reported and corrected their reporting violations, they avoided penalties and are now in compliance with the EPA's community right-to-know laws."

Under the EPA's audit policy, the agency may reduce penalties up to 100% for violations that are voluntarily discovered, promptly disclosed to the agency and quickly corrected. See the attached list for a breakdown of the companies that settled with the EPA.

Federal Law requires certain facilities using chemicals over specified amounts to file annual reports to the EPA and the state that estimate the amounts released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site or transferred off-site for waste management. The information is then compiled into a national database called the Toxics Release Inventory and made available to the public. The premise behind the program is that the public has a right to know about toxic chemical releases, and that facilities have a responsibility to inform surrounding communities about their use and release of toxic chemicals.