Tesoro is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and marketers in the Western United States. Tesoro operates seven refineries in the Western United States with a combined refining capacity of approximately 675,000 barrels per day.

The Consent Decree requires Tesoro to take actions to prevent future violations of the type at issue in this case, and will promote Tesoro’s compliance with the fuels regulations. Specifically, Tesoro will implement the Tesoro System-Wide Compliance Plan and Audit Requirements to cover all conventional gasoline produced by the Tesoro Refineries.

While no known damage to the environment or to human health is associated with Tesoro’s violations, EPA said, these violations result in programmatic harm that undermines the integrity of EPA’s fuels regulations. Proper sampling, testing, recordkeeping, and reporting of fuel constituents provide the foundation for the EPA’s fuels compliance program and ensures that the program’s emissions benefits can be realized. Tesoro’s conduct interfered with these requirements, EPA said.

EPA generally considers failure to sample and test gasoline according to proper procedures and requirements, failure to maintain records, and failure to submit required reports as significant violations because they may result in:

1. a reduced ability by the EPA to know whether the fuel at issue met an applicable standard, or would require substantial government resources in order to determine whether the fuel met the applicable standards;

2. increased emissions as a result of fuel being produced that does not meet applicable standards; and

3. a large negative overall impact on the integrity of the fuels program.

The proposed settlement, lodged in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.