TAFT, Calif. -- Businesses across the Central Valley can expect higher fees from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District because of a violation of an ozone standard.

The violation of the one-hour ozone standard was recorded last week due to a spike in back-to-school traffic, triple-digit temperatures and smoke from area fires. As a result, the Central Valley is on the hook for a $29 million fine this year and every year until the standard is met.

Area businesses will likely foot the bill as follows, according to Seyed Sadredin, executive director of the air pollution control district: Agriculture: $5,511,014
Commercial: $1,385,399
Electric Generation: $4,123,852
Industrial: $9,110,370
Oil & Gas: $6,786,434
Oil & gas Area-wide: $1,674,600

But business owners say they are not happy that they will be expected to foot the bill.

"This will make our lifting costs to produce oil much more than they should be," Les Clark, an independent oil producer, said.

Businesses have invested tens of millions of dollars already to lower their emissions, Michael Turnipseed, executive director of the Kern Taxpayers' Association, said.

The SJVAPCD says it is working with the EPA and local legislators to change the law and avoid the fine, Sadredin said, since the one-hour ozone standard was rejected by the federal government five years ago as an adequate measurement of air quality.

If that fails, the district will work to keep as much of the money locally for air quality improvement programs in the Central Valley, rather than seeing it go into the federal treasury, he said.