Legal News

Home Builders Agree to $4.3M Pollution Settlement

Four of the largest home builders in the U.S. have agreed to pay $4.3M in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of storm water run-off regulations at home construction sites in 34 states, federal officials announced Wednesday.

The four home builders -- Centex Homes, KB Homes, Pulte Homes, and Richmond American Homes -- "have agreed to implement company-wide compliance programs that go beyond regulatory requirements and put controls in place that will keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment from polluting the nation's waterways each year," according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press release. The EPA and U.S. Department of Justice had charged the four companies with violations of the Clean Water Act, which requires construction sites to have controls in place to prevent storm water pollution from entering nearby waterways.

• EPA Press Release on $4.3M Settlement
• Reuters: Four Homebuilders Settle U.S. Pollution Case
• Key Federal Environmental Laws (FindLaw)
• Environmental Law News (FindLaw)

Full post as published by FindLaw's Common Law on June 12, 2008 (boomark / email).