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The California Water Resources Control Board (the “Board”) and Associated Consulting Civil & Environmental Services, Inc. (“Associated Consulting”) and individuals executed the following document on January 17:
Provisions for conclusion of settlement agreement and administrative civil liability order (hereinafter referred to as “settlement agreement”)
See WQ 2023-XXXX-EXEC.
The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Associated Consulting inflated invoices submitted to the Board’s Underground Storage Tank Remediation Fund (the “Fund”) for remediation work.
Federal and state underground petroleum storage tank (“UST”) regulations require the owner or operator of a UST to take certain investigation and/or corrective actions in response to a release. The UST owner or operator is required by relevant federal or state his UST regulations to investigate and/or take corrective action to clarify the details of the release and correct it if necessary.
Many states (including Arkansas) have UST funds that reimburse the costs of certain investigations and/or remedial actions related to releases from petroleum USTs. Reimbursement of such fees is generally subject to meeting certain statutory and/or regulatory eligibility requirements. Different types of environmental professionals are often used to perform the necessary work and submit claims for reimbursement.
California is one of the states that offers petroleum UST funds.
The aforementioned settlement agreement alleges that Associated Consulting made certain misrepresentations in multiple reimbursement claims against California UST Fund, including:
- 346 cases of inflated working hours occurred
- 6 ways to increase the cost of rental units
- Four cases where subcontracting costs increase
The settlement agreement provides that Associated Consulting and the individuals will dispute the claims and admit no wrongdoing.
The settlement agreement also provides:
- Assessing a $150,000 fine
- Related Consulting and Disqualification of Individuals from Future Board Funded Programs
A copy of the news release and settlement agreement can be downloaded here.
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