The California Air Resources Board, the state cop for air qality, last year assessed nearly $30 million in penalties for air violations, a fivefold increase over 2006.

The board had more than 3,400 enforcement actions, but two-thirds of the penalties collected came from three businesses -- Sierra Pacific Industries, Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, and the Evergreen Pulp Mill in Humboldt County.

The biggest dollar amount came from Sierra Pacific, a lumber company headquartered in Redding. The $13 million penalty was for falsifying emission reports, exceeding emissions limits over several years and discharging soot over nearby neighbors in Lincoln.

Evergreen Pulp's penalties amounted to about $5 million for emissions of hazardous air pollutants and violations of monitoring, reporting and record keeping.

Yamaha paid $2 million for importing more than 400 motorcycles that failed to meet California emissions standards.

Most of the money collected was used in local emissions controls and in training for people to comply with state air regulations.