A Notice of Violation (NOV) is issued by an AQMD Air Quality Inspector to inform a business that it is out of compliance with applicable AQMD rule requirements, permit conditions or legal requirements, or with applicable state or federal air pollution regulations. Each day or part of a day that you are in violation is a separate violation, and may be subject to substantial civil penalties. Accordingly, it is in your best interest to solve your compliance problem or obtain a variance from the AQMD Hearing Board before you resume operation. Continued operation in noncompliance without a variance can result in additional violation counts.

According to the California Health and Safety Code, penalties in the most egregious cases can be assessed against individuals in an amount up to $250,000 per day per violation, and against corporations in an amount up to $1,000,000 per day per violation.  Criminal sanctions may also be involved.  Actual penalties tend to be far less, depending on the circumstances, such as how bad the violation was, whether the business owner knew the law was being violated, and whether anyone was injured.

For more information, please contact the:

District Prosecutor's Office
South Coast Air Quality Management District
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar CA 91765
(909) 396-3400