The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) announced that Valero Refining Company agreed to pay a $249,000 civil penalty to settle air quality violations at its petroleum refinery in Benicia, California. The settlement covered 29 notices of violation issued to the company for non-compliance with air quality regulations that occurred largely in 2013: four significant violations involved errors in an inspection database that resulted in missed leak inspections for valves omitted from the database, and another involved opening a tank to the atmosphere without first conducting required degassing; nine were brief violations of emission limits, with eight detected by monitors that continuously measure emissions from refinery equipment, and one discovered by a source test conducted by the facility; six were minor hydrocarbon leaks from storage tanks; and nine involved late reports or other administrative violations.