Brownwood Furniture to Pay $115,000 EPA Penalty.

BROWNWOOD FURNITURE Inc., has agreed to pay a $115,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act, according the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA alleged that Brownwood's Rancho Cucamonga, CA, furniture factory improperly received air emission permits for new paint spray booths on the basis of incorrect information, failed to apply pollution controls and provide emission offsets for the new spray booths, and violated permit emossion limits for an existing spray booth.

Incorrect information in Brownwood's permit application led air regulators to believe that a different company, John David International, was proposing to operate old spray booths relocated from its existing business in Anaheim, which would have required no emission offsets under the South Coast Air Quality Management District's permitting rules. However, according to the EPA, the company named on the application did not exist, and the "existing" business location in Anaheim had been demolished for a freeway expansion.

The settlement requires Brownwood to apply Best Available Control Technology to the two new spray booths by either installing air pollution control equipment to reduce VOC emissions by 90% or by exclusively using ultra-low VOC furniture coatings.

Brownwood is also required to obtain emission reduction credits to offset the VOC emission increases associated with these spray booths. In addition, Brownwood must comply with VOC emission limits on an older, existing coating spray booth at its facility.