This case addresses violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) by Apache Power Industrial, LLC ( Apache ) and Phoenix Power Products, LLC ( Phoenix Power ). Apache, a privately held Texas corporation based in Georgetown, Texas, and Phoenix Power, a privately held Arizona corporation based in Chandler, Arizona, import and sell a variety of generators, air compressors, pressure washers, and pumps. The two companies are both owned by the same owners. The two companies neither hold EPA-issued certificates of conformity (COCs) nor do they have a role in the production of the engines and equipment they sell. Rather, engine and equipment manufacturers in China label the goods with ApacheÂs name and brand and the companies simply import and sell them.
EPA and the United States Department of Homeland SecurityÂs Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) performed inspections of Apache-imported or Phoenix Power-imported engines at U.S. ports on five occasions in 2011. In addition to these investigations, EPA requested that the companies disclose their inventory of certain engine families in April 2011 and received a response from the companies in October 2011. Together, the two companies imported over 1,900 uncertified nonroad engines.
As a result of this enforcement matter, Apache and Phoenix Power agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States Treasury and 5 of the shipments of uncertified engines were exported out of the United States.