Builders to pay $4.3 million in settlement over runoff
Four of the biggest U.S. homebuilders will pay a total of $4.3 million to settle federal and state allegations that they violated clean water laws at construction sites across the country. entex Corp, KB Home, Pulte Homes Inc. and Richmond American Homes also agreed to improve their environmental compliance programs and put safeguards in place that will keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment annually out of U.S. waterways, the U.S. Justice Department said yesterday.

Builders to pay $4.3 million in settlement over runoff
From wire reports
June 12, 2008
Four of the biggest U.S. homebuilders will pay a total of $4.3 million to settle federal and state allegations that they violated clean water laws at construction sites across the country.

Centex Corp., KB Home, Pulte Homes Inc. and Richmond American Homes also agreed to improve their environmental compliance programs and put safeguards in place that will keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment annually out of U.S. waterways, the U.S. Justice Department said yesterday.

The separate settlements resolve the claim that the companies violated storm-water runoff regulations at construction sites in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Combined, the builders accounted for more than 124,000 new-home sales in 2006, the government said.

"The impact of these settlements is much broader than the penalties the companies will pay," said Ronald Tenpas, head of the Justice Department's environment and natural resources division, during a conference call with reporters. "These steps will result in a significant reduction in sediment" pollution.

Seven states that joined in the settlements - Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee and Utah - will receive a portion of the penalties.

In a joint statement, the builders said the agreement might set a standard for improving storm-water management in the industry.

The matter "was primarily related to the homebuilders' proper controls and documentation of processes for limiting the amount of sediment in storm-water runoff at construction sites," the four companies said. "As leaders in the homebuilding industry, we share the government's goal of protecting and preserving clean waterways."

Centex, based in Dallas, agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty. Los Angeles-based KB Home will pay $1.2 million, while Richmond American Homes, owned by Denver's M.D.C. Holdings Inc., will pay a $795,000 fine.

Pulte, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., agreed to pay an $877,000 penalty and spend at least $608,000 on a project to improve a watershed in Northern California, the Justice Department said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stepped up its scrutiny at construction sites, which have a large potential for causing pollution through erosion and storm-water runoff. In February, Home Depot Inc. said it would pay a $1.3 million penalty in a similar case alleging federal Clean Water Act violations at construction areas across the U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was fined $3.1 million in 2004, the biggest penalty for this type of case.

"We expect this emphasis in enforcement to continue," Tenpas said.

The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this article.
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