RIO LINDA, CA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a major settlement with international agribusiness giant Wilbur-Ellis Company over chemical reporting violations, directly involving its facility right here in Rio Linda.
On June 4, 2026, the EPA finalized an agreement requiring Wilbur-Ellis to pay a $630,737 penalty for violating the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The local impact hits home as the company’s Rio Linda operation was cited as one of the specific locations where the reporting failures occurred.
According to the EPA, the agribusiness company failed to properly report chemical production data, which federal regulators call “a filing essential to EPA’s ability to screen, assess, and manage chemical risks.”
The Violations Impacting Rio Linda
According to legal details, Wilbur-Ellis bypassed critical federal oversight channels in three distinct ways:
- Unreported Chemical Manufacturing: On at least 29 separate occasions, the company manufactured a brand-new, unreported chemical substance without notifying the EPA of its intent to do so. These violations occurred across a handful of sites, specifically including the Rio Linda, Willows, and San Joaquin facilities in California, as well as a plant in Pomeroy, Washington.
- Failure to Report Large-Scale Production: The company produced more than 25,000 pounds of three additional chemical substances at its Rio Linda and San Joaquin facilities. Wilbur-Ellis failed to submit the mandatory quadrennial (four-year) chemical production data required for these volumes.
- Handling “Inactive” Substances: The company processed a separate chemical after the EPA had officially designated it as an “inactive substance,” failing to submit the required notices.
A First-of-Its-Kind Federal Crackdown
While chemical reporting fines happen periodically, legal experts note this case is an important milestone. According to legal analysts, this is one of the very first times the EPA has strictly enforced the ban on processing “inactive” substances.
Under 2016 amendments to the TSCA, the government began labeling chemicals on its inventory as either active or inactive. If a company wants to use an inactive chemical, they are required to submit a simple “Notice of Activity Form B” before starting operations. Wilbur-Ellis skipped this step, contributing to the hefty six-figure fine.
What Happens Now?
The EPA has confirmed that Wilbur-Ellis has since cooperated with the enforcement action. To bring its operations back into alignment with federal law, the company has officially filed the required Premanufacture Notices (PMN) and corrected its chemical data reporting.
Local facilities are now reported to be back in full compliance with federal chemical production reporting requirements.
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