By Mike Harris Monday, August 18th, 2025

The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office has reached a $620,000 settlement in an environmental protection lawsuit against Central Coast Agriculture and several related companies which operated cannabis cultivation, harvesting, and processing facilities in Buellton.

The case’s resolution was announced Aug. 15.

Central Coast Agriculture (CCA) could not immediately be reached for comment.

The district attorney’s civil complaint alleges that CCA operated at least 16, 100–500 kilowatt diesel generators to power refrigeration units storing frozen cannabis.

At least one was used for primary power to a cannabis cultivation greenhouse, according to the suit.

The complaint alleges that CCA violated the health and safety code by operating the generators outside of the California Air Resources Board’s portable engine registration program (PERP) regulations.

Specifically, the suit alleges that CCA used them for primary power to a building, facility, or stationary equipment and operated them at locations where the PERP registration was not valid.

The complaint also alleges that the company used the generators without obtaining prior authorization from the Air Pollution Control District (ACPD), kept them at the same location for more than 12 months, and failed to record the location of each generator on a monthly basis.

Because CCA’s use of the generators was not compliant with the PERP regulations, the company was required to obtain a permit from APCD to operate the generators, which it failed to do, according to the suit.

As part of the settlement, CCA will pay $520,000 in civil penalties and $100,000 as a supplemental environmental project to the Santa Barbara County Bucket Brigade to fund the Refugio Road Trail Restoration Project.

The district attorney’s office will receive $260,000 of the penalties to support enforcement of consumer and environmental protection laws.

The settlement also includes a permanent injunction requiring CCA to comply with all PERP regulations in the state.

District Attorney John Savrnoch thanked the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, and Senior Deputy District Attorneys Christopher Dalbey and Morgan Lucas for their work on the case.

Aeron Arlin Genet, executive director of the air pollution control district, said his agency is relieved that the case is now settled.

“APCD very rarely opts to forward cases to the District Attorney’s Office,” he said in a statement.

“But these were serious violations of air quality rules that resulted in significant emissions of pollutants that affect human health,” Genet said.