The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) announced that Valero Refining Company agreed to pay a $300,300 civil penalty to settle air quality violations at its petroleum refinery in Benicia, California. The settlement resolves 33 notices of violation issued between 2011 and 2012. Twelve of the violations involved omissions from a valves and connectors database that Valero uses to comply with component inspection requirements. Six of the violations involved late flare gas samples, which are required every three hours by regulation. The remaining violations involved short-term emission excesses or leaks from pressure vacuum valves on tanks.