UNITED PARCEL SERVICE - BROOKINGS

United Parcel Service's Brookings, South Dakota footprint registers as a single facility in EPA's ECHO database (facility ID 110037443102), with zero quarters of noncompliance in the 24-month lookback and a derived penalty allocation of $2.12 million [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. That dollar figure is not a Brookings-specific fine. It reflects ECHO's proportional derivation from a five-year company-wide total — the formula is penalty_24mo = total_5yr × (24/60) — and the facility itself carries no active permits and no reported top pollutants in the current export. The Brookings node is one of more than 1,100 UPS locations swept into the October 19, 2022 nationwide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act consent agreement between UPS and EPA, spanning 45 states and Puerto Rico [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide].

At the parent level, UPS (CIK 0001090727) reported 2025 revenue of $88.7 billion and 5.2 billion packages delivered in its February 17, 2026 Form 10-K [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. Three corporate signals shape the near-term picture: a plan to close 51 parcel facilities in 2026 [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html], a December 2025 final-mile agreement with USPS [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm], and a shareholder resolution filed November 13, 2025 by As You Sow seeking a third-party environmental justice audit [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit]. EPA ECHO records no Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, or RCRA violation quarters tagged to the Brookings facility in the trailing 24 months [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

The Brookings facility's compliance posture only makes sense when read against UPS's national enforcement history. ECHO's penalty allocation methodology attributes a proportional share of aggregated five-year penalties rather than facility-level adjudicated fines, so a clean local record can still carry a substantial derived dollar figure. EPA's exporter documentation specifies the derivation: penalty_24mo = total_5yr × (24/60) [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. For Brookings, that formula yields $2.12 million despite zero quarters of noncompliance recorded at the facility over the 24-month window. The single Brookings facility carries no active permits in the ECHO export as of May 4, 2026 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

The governing federal enforcement instrument is the October 19, 2022 UPS–EPA consent agreement, which resolved alleged RCRA hazardous waste violations across more than 1,100 UPS facilities in 45 states and Puerto Rico [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. That action was itself preceded by a June 16, 2021 EPA Region 6 settlement with UPS and TForce Freight, requiring corrective action across 183 locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, with a $3.8 million civil penalty and a 24-month compliance window [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement]. Contemporary press coverage from October 19, 2022 confirmed the scope of the second, nationwide settlement and its corrective-action obligations [source: https://preprod.sandiegouniontribune.com/2022/10/19/epa-ups-to-pay-fine-correct-hazardous-waste-violations/]. During calendar 2024 and 2025, UPS published its Global Reporting Initiative index covering January 1 through December 31, 2024 [source: https://about.ups.com/content/dam/upsstories/images/our-impact/reporting/2024-UPS-GRI-Report.pdf] and its 2025 Statement on Climate Change [source: https://about.ups.com/content/dam/upsstories/images/our-impact/reporting/2025-ups-climate-change-statement.pdf].

Into 2026, the compliance timeline shifts toward shareholder-driven scrutiny and network restructuring. On November 13, 2025, As You Sow filed a shareholder resolution requesting a third-party environmental justice audit, citing exposure to regulatory scrutiny, litigation risk, and operational disruption tied to pollution impacts on overburdened communities [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit]. UPS filed its annual report on February 17, 2026 [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. Its most recent quarterly report, filed November 5, 2025, contained no material environmental disclosures in the excerpted passages reviewed [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828025049661/ups-20250930.htm]. On April 28, 2026, UPS disclosed plans to eliminate 51 parcel distribution centers during 2026 [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html]. That structural change will reshape facility-level RCRA generator status and reporting footprints across the network, though the ECHO record for the Brookings facility had not been updated to reflect that plan as of the May 4, 2026 export.

ECHO records attribute zero quarters with noncompliance to the Brookings facility (EPA facility ID 110037443102) during the trailing 24 months [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The $2.12 million penalty figure is a derived allocation — total_5yr × (24/60) — rather than an adjudicated facility-level fine, per EPA ECHO's documented methodology [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

October 19, 2022 — RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), nationwide: EPA announced a consent agreement with United Parcel Service covering alleged hazardous waste handling violations at more than 1,100 UPS facilities in 45 states and Puerto Rico. The settlement requires UPS to implement environmental policies to prevent future noncompliance [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. Independent reporting characterized the scope and the corrective-action obligations [source: https://preprod.sandiegouniontribune.com/2022/10/19/epa-ups-to-pay-fine-correct-hazardous-waste-violations/].

June 16, 2021 — RCRA, EPA Region 6: EPA announced a settlement with United Parcel Service, Inc. and TForce Freight, Inc. requiring correction of alleged hazardous waste violations at 183 facilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. The respondents agreed to a $3.8 million civil penalty and a 24-month compliance schedule with enhanced noncompliance-prevention programs [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement].

Within the trailing 24 months ending May 4, 2026, no new federal enforcement press release specific to the Brookings, SD facility appears in the sources reviewed. The Brookings node carries zero violation quarters in ECHO and no active permits [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. No state-level environmental enforcement record for the Brookings site was returned in the search results reviewed.

UPS Brookings, SD (facility ID 110037443102): ECHO lists one facility under this corporate slug, with zero quarters of noncompliance in the 24-month window, no active permits, an EJ index average of 0.0 in the exporter feed, and a derived penalty allocation of $2.12 million based on ECHO's proportional methodology [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Public UPS location directories identify two Brookings addresses — a drop-off point at 600 Main Avenue and a UPS Store at 120 22nd Avenue South, zip 57006 [source: https://www.postlocations.com/ups-in-brookings-sd/]. The ECHO exporter does not enumerate pollutant-specific releases for this facility.

Because the Brookings operating footprint consists of a single ECHO-registered facility, a top-five facility ranking by EJ exposure or violation count is not applicable at the company-slug level. For context, the parent-entity peer UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC (UPS) shows 11 ECHO facilities and 8 violation quarters in 24 months [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The peer UNITED PARCEL SERVICES shows 10 facilities and 6 violation quarters [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The peer UNITED PARCEL SVC (NAICS 49211) shows 16 facilities and 6 violation quarters [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

As You Sow's November 13, 2025 resolution addresses UPS at the enterprise level and does not identify Brookings specifically. It frames environmental-justice exposure as a portfolio-wide financial risk [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit]. Absent facility-level pollutant data in the ECHO export for Brookings, downstream EJ exposure at the South Dakota site cannot be quantified from the current record [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The 51-facility closure program announced in late April 2026 has not been mapped to the Brookings node in any public filing reviewed [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html].

ECHO's exporter feed lists no top pollutants for the Brookings facility within the 24-month window [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The absence of reported releases does not eliminate the pollutant categories historically relevant to UPS enforcement. Given the parcel-hub activity profile, those categories are RCRA-regulated hazardous waste streams under Subtitle C, mobile-source and stationary-source air emissions incidental to ground fleet and ground-support equipment, and stormwater constituents associated with large impervious parking and loading surfaces.

Hazardous waste under RCRA: The October 19, 2022 EPA settlement and the June 16, 2021 Region 6 settlement both addressed hazardous waste handling, generator-status determination, and manifesting at UPS facilities [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide] [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement]. RCRA-listed and characteristic wastes from damaged-package handling can include ignitables, corrosives, and reactive materials whose improper accumulation triggers generator-threshold exceedances. EJ implications arise where parcel hubs are sited in census blocks with elevated demographic indices, amplifying the exposure significance of any release or mishandling event — the central argument of the As You Sow resolution [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit].

Greenhouse gas and criteria-pollutant emissions: UPS's 2025 Statement on Climate Change identifies GHG emissions as a company-acknowledged impact category [source: https://about.ups.com/content/dam/upsstories/images/our-impact/reporting/2025-ups-climate-change-statement.pdf]. The 2021 Sustainability Report frames fleet conversion, sustainable aviation fuel, and renewable electricity as the stated reduction pathways [source: https://about.ups.com/content/dam/upsstories/assets/social-impact/2021-esg-highlights-brochure/en_en_2021SustainabilityBrochure_V15.pdf.pdf]. Exposure pathways for hub-adjacent communities include diesel particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from ground fleet idling. For Brookings specifically, ECHO does not list criteria-pollutant release data in the exporter feed reviewed [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Within NAICS 492110, the Brookings slug — one facility, zero violation quarters, $2.12 million in derived penalties — sits well below the three largest UPS-family slugs by absolute violation count and penalty exposure. The parent-tagged UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC (UPS) slug aggregates 11 facilities, 8 violation quarters, and $10.64 million in derived penalties. UNITED PARCEL SERVICES aggregates 10 facilities and $6.42 million. UNITED PARCEL SVC aggregates 16 facilities and $5.76 million [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Because ECHO's 24-month penalty figure is derived from five-year totals, these peer comparisons reflect the tail of the 2021 Region 6 and 2022 nationwide RCRA settlements more than current-quarter enforcement activity [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement] [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide].

UPS's February 17, 2026 Form 10-K, Item 1A excerpt reviewed, directs readers to forward-looking statement limitations and notes that the company "routinely posts important information" through its Investor Relations website and SEC filings, while disclaiming any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. The excerpted passage does not include environmental-specific risk factor language; readers evaluating forward environmental risk should consult the complete Item 1A in the filing itself. The filing highlights the December 2025 USPS final-mile agreement and the Frigo-Trans and Andlauer Healthcare Group acquisitions as 2025 strategic actions material to the forward operating footprint [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. Two additional forward-looking factors bear watching. The April 28, 2026 announcement of 51 facility closures will alter RCRA generator classifications at affected sites, potentially changing which slug-level totals appear in future ECHO exports [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html]. The As You Sow resolution filed November 13, 2025 remains an open shareholder action; its outcome will determine whether UPS commissions a third-party environmental justice audit that could surface facility-level data not currently visible in ECHO [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit].