People v. Mobil Oil Corp.

The State of California brought a civil action against Mobil Oil Corporation to recover civil penalties for alleged violations of the law and regulation which establish maximum standards for the volatility of gasoline sold as motor fuel in California. The court granted defendant’s motion for judgment after the close of plaintiffs case. Plaintiff appeals from that judgment. Affirmed.

Procedural and Factual Aspects of Case

The underlying civil action was brought by the People of the State of California (hereafter plaintiff) at the request of the State Air Resources Board (hereafter ARB) against Mobil Oil Corporation (hereafter defendant) to recover civil penalties for selling and supplying, as a fuel for motor vehicles, gasoline having a volatility in excess of that permitted by law. The first amended complaint alleged two thousand six hundred fifteen (2,615) such violations, between August 16 and 26, 1977, subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per vehicle, for a total of $1,307,500.

In 1975 the Legislature enacted former Health and Safety Code section 43830, directing the ARB to “. . . establish, by regulation, maximum stan dards for…