This is a consolidated action pursuant to our Consolidated Rules of Practice (40 C.F.R. �22.18(b)(2) and (3)), which provide that a proceeding may be simultaneously commenced and concluded by the issuance of a Consent Agreement and Final Order when the parties agree to settle one or more causes of action before the filing of an Administrative Complaint.
As result of an inspection conducted at Solgar Vitamin & Herb (Solgar) on August 28, 2003 and a review of the Toxic Release Inventory Envirofacts Database (TRI Database), it was determined that the Respondent had failed to submit the following Form R reports to the EPA and the State of New Jersey:
CHEMICAL YEAR DUE DATE POSTMARK DATE DAYS LATE
zinc compounds 2001 July 1, 2002 October 21, 2003 >1 year
zinc compounds 2002 July 1, 2003 October 21, 2003 144
On December 23, 2003, a letter addressing the above reporting violations was sent to the company in an effort to gain more insight into the circumstances concerning the above violations in an effort to settle the potential proceeding expeditiously.
Each failure to submit a Form R report in a timely manner constitutes a violation of Section 313 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. �11023, and 40 C.F.R �372.30. The amount of the penalty was initially calculated using the Enforcement Response Policy (ERP) for Section 313 of EPCRA issued by the USEPA Office of Compliance Monitoring, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, on August 10, 1992. The original proposed penalty