UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC (UPS)

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS; CIK 0001090727) reported $88.7 billion in 2025 revenue and moved an average of 20.8 million packages per day across more than 200 countries and territories [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. That scale makes the company's environmental compliance record consequential at a national level. EPA ECHO records as of May 4, 2026 identify 11 facilities associated with the registrant, 8 quarters-with-noncompliance in the trailing 24 months, and a derived penalty total of approximately $10.64 million over that window [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The ECHO exporter's EJ-index average for the 11 mapped facilities is reported as 0.0, which reflects either missing EJScreen overlays for the selected facility IDs or facility geolocations outside EJScreen's standard reporting bins; the underlying EJ exposure of UPS's broader 1,000-plus U.S. ground operations network is not captured in that figure [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

The headline compliance item of the trailing 24 months is a 2022 nationwide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) consent agreement covering 1,160 UPS facilities in 45 states and Puerto Rico. That settlement remains the dominant driver of penalty accrual and corrective-action obligations into the current reporting period [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. A separate 2021 EPA Region 6 settlement — covering 183 UPS and TForce Freight locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, carrying a $3.8 million civil penalty and a 24-month compliance clock — continues to shape the RCRA posture across the Gulf region [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement]. Shareholder engagement is active. As You Sow filed a November 13, 2025 resolution seeking a third-party environmental-justice audit of the company [source: https://www.asyousow.org/resolutions/2025/11/13-ups-third-party-environmental-justice-audit].

EPA ECHO records indicate UPS-associated facilities generated 8 quarters of noncompliance across the trailing 24 months — the ECHO exporter caps this metric at 8 — with a derived penalty accrual of $10,640,000 calculated as total_5yr × (24/60) [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. No active permits are listed against the 11 mapped facility IDs. The latest permit date in the dataset is October 1, 1987, consistent with UPS's operating profile as a transportation and logistics provider whose hazardous-waste exposure arises chiefly from small-quantity generator activity at package and freight hubs rather than from major-source air or NPDES water permits [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Two EPA RCRA settlements predate the current 24-month window but continue to govern it. On June 16, 2021, EPA Region 6 announced from Dallas, Texas a Consent Agreement and Final Order requiring UPS and TForce Freight to correct alleged hazardous-waste violations at 183 locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, with a $3.8 million civil penalty and a 24-month corrective-action schedule [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement]. That CAFO document remains publicly accessible on EPA's enforcement portal [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/consent-agreement-and-final-order-ups]. Because the compliance schedule extended into 2023, corrective-action costs and reporting obligations fall squarely within the current analytical window. On October 19, 2022, EPA headquarters announced a nationwide settlement resolving RCRA violations — including failure to make land-disposal determinations and improper on-site management of hazardous waste — at 1,160 UPS facilities across 45 states and Puerto Rico [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. Law360 reported the associated penalty at $5.3 million [source: https://www.law360.com/real-estate-authority/commercial/articles/1].

Operational changes during 2024 and 2025 intersect directly with that compliance footprint. On May 1, 2026, UPS disclosed plans to close 27 additional parcel facilities in 2026, bringing total planned closures to 51 as part of a network-downsizing effort [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html]. Facility closures alter the population of sites subject to RCRA corrective-action obligations and can trigger closure-plan requirements under Subtitle C. UPS completed the Frigo-Trans and Andlauer Healthcare Group acquisitions in 2025, expanding cold-chain operations that carry elevated refrigerant-management and pharmaceutical-waste handling obligations under RCRA Subtitle C and CAA Title VI [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. In December 2025, UPS contracted with the U.S. Postal Service for final-mile delivery of Ground Saver and Mail Innovations volumes beginning 2026, a shift that redistributes diesel vehicle-miles between carriers and alters the air-emissions exposure profile at affected terminals [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. The Q3 2025 10-Q filed November 5, 2025 contains no incremental environmental-litigation disclosure in the sections reviewed [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828025049661/ups-20250930.htm].

Action 1 — EPA Region 6 RCRA settlement (UPS and TForce Freight). Announced June 16, 2021 from Dallas, Texas. Program: RCRA Subtitle C (hazardous waste). Scope: 183 facilities across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Outcome: Consent Agreement and Final Order; $3.8 million civil penalty; 24-month corrective-action schedule requiring enhanced compliance programs [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/united-parcel-service-inc-ups-settlement]. The CAFO document is posted on EPA's enforcement page [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/consent-agreement-and-final-order-ups]. Because the compliance schedule extended into 2023, corrective-action costs and reporting obligations fall within the current 24-month analytical window. The five-state geographic footprint — spanning Gulf Coast industrial corridors and border-region freight routes — concentrates the corrective-action burden in communities with existing cumulative pollution exposure.

Action 2 — EPA nationwide RCRA settlement. Announced October 19, 2022 from Washington, D.C. Program: RCRA Subtitle C. Scope: 1,160 UPS facilities across 45 states and Puerto Rico. Alleged violations include failure to make land-disposal determinations and improper on-site management of hazardous waste [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. Law360 reported the total penalty at $5.3 million [source: https://www.law360.com/real-estate-authority/commercial/articles/1]. The settlement requires UPS to implement environmental policies to prevent future noncompliance across the covered facility population [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. At 1,160 covered sites, this is among the largest facility-count RCRA settlements EPA has announced against a single courier company, based on the agency's own press release describing the scope.

Action 3 — Derived ECHO penalty accrual. ECHO exporter methodology apportions total 5-year penalties to a 24-month window by the ratio 24/60, yielding $10,640,000 attributed to UPS-mapped facility IDs as of May 4, 2026 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The 8-quarter noncompliance count reflects the exporter's cap rather than a ceiling on underlying events. No Clean Water Act (CWA) or Clean Air Act (CAA) major-source enforcement matters appear in the ECHO summary for the 11 facility IDs in scope [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Facility ID 110001268011. The ECHO exporter bundle lists this identifier among the 11 UPS-mapped sites as of May 4, 2026. No active permits are recorded, and the latest permit date across the bundle is October 1, 1987, indicating a historical rather than current major-media permit relationship [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Facility ID 110003262406. Included in the ECHO mapping with an EJ-index contribution recorded as 0.0 in the aggregated average. That EJ reading reflects the exporter's coverage of the selected IDs and does not represent an EJ assessment of UPS's broader terminal and hub network [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Facility ID 110003321593. Part of the 11-facility bundle contributing to the 8-quarter noncompliance count. The exporter does not attribute a specific pollutant profile to this ID within the dataset returned [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Facility ID 110003296594. Included among the sites whose aggregated 5-year penalty total drives the $10.64 million 24-month derivation. Individual allocation is not exposed by the exporter methodology [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Facility ID 110061099500. Among the UPS-associated identifiers in the May 4, 2026 snapshot with no active permits on file. Broader context on UPS ground-operations exposure to near-roadway and warehouse-adjacent communities is documented in academic and NGO work on diesel truck traffic in port-adjacent and warehouse-adjacent areas [source: https://luskin.ucla.edu/publication/diesel-truck-traffic-in-port-adjacent-low-income-and-minority-communities-environmental-justice-implications-of-near-roadway-land-use-conflicts-2].

The ECHO summary does not populate a top_pollutants list for the 11 UPS-mapped facilities [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Three pollutant categories are nonetheless material to the company's operating profile, grounded in the nature of the settled RCRA matters and the diesel-intensive ground network.

First: RCRA-listed hazardous wastes. The 2022 nationwide settlement cites failure to make land-disposal determinations and improper on-site management of hazardous waste — categories that commonly include spent solvents, ignitable liquids, and universal-waste batteries generated at package-handling facilities [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. Exposure pathways include worker inhalation and dermal contact during accumulation, and soil and groundwater impacts in the event of container failure. These are not abstract risks. At high-throughput hubs processing tens of thousands of packages daily, the volume of improperly accumulated ignitable liquids or spent solvents can be substantial before a violation is detected.

Second: diesel particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from ground-fleet and yard operations. UCLA Luskin research documents the environmental-justice implications of heavy-duty diesel truck traffic in port-adjacent low-income and minority communities, with near-roadway exposure concentrations a recognized pathway to respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity [source: https://luskin.ucla.edu/publication/diesel-truck-traffic-in-port-adjacent-low-income-and-minority-communities-environmental-justice-implications-of-near-roadway-land-use-conflicts-2]. Earthjustice warehouse-siting research addresses the same pathway at the last-mile warehouse scale [source: https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/warehouse_re]. UPS's December 2025 USPS final-mile agreement will shift Ground Saver and Mail Innovations diesel miles between carriers beginning in 2026, altering the distribution of PM2.5 and NOx burdens at affected terminals.

Third: aviation emissions and refrigerant releases associated with the air network and the expanded healthcare cold chain following the 2025 Frigo-Trans and Andlauer Healthcare Group acquisitions. UPS's 2021 sustainability materials reference a target of 30% sustainable aviation fuel by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2050, which frame the aviation-emissions exposure [source: https://about.ups.com/content/dam/upsstories/assets/social-impact/2021-esg-highlights-brochure/en_en_2021SustainabilityBrochure_V15.pdf.pdf]. Cold-chain expansion adds hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant management obligations under CAA Title VI — a compliance category not previously prominent in UPS's enforcement history.

The research bundle returned no populated peer benchmark for NAICS 492110 (Couriers and Express Delivery Services), so a direct peer-set ranking is not supportable from the data in hand [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Qualitatively, the 2022 EPA nationwide RCRA settlement covering 1,160 UPS facilities in 45 states is among the largest facility-count RCRA settlements announced by EPA against a single courier company, based on the agency's own press release describing the scope [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/ups-settles-epa-correct-alleged-hazardous-waste-violations-nationwide]. Further peer comparison would require ECHO queries against FedEx Corp. and other NAICS 492110 registrants.

UPS's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 (filed February 17, 2026) states that forward-looking statements are subject to limitations and risks, that the company does not undertake to update them except as required by law, and directs investors to monitor the Investor Relations site alongside SEC filings [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. Item 1 discloses expansion of the healthcare cold-chain platform via the Frigo-Trans and Andlauer Healthcare Group acquisitions — operations that carry elevated refrigerant, pharmaceutical-waste, and temperature-controlled logistics compliance obligations — and a December 2025 USPS final-mile agreement for Ground Saver and Mail Innovations volumes effective 2026, which redistributes diesel vehicle-miles and associated air-emissions exposure between carriers [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828026008432/ups-20251231.htm]. Three forward-looking compliance vectors warrant monitoring. First, the 51 planned facility closures announced through May 2026 trigger RCRA closure-plan and post-closure care requirements at any site where hazardous waste was accumulated [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ups-close-27-additional-parcel-134020058.html]. Second, cold-chain growth through Frigo-Trans and AHG adds hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant management obligations under CAA Title VI that are new to UPS's historical enforcement profile. Third, the USPS final-mile agreement shifts diesel vehicle-miles and their associated PM2.5 and NOx burdens to UPS terminals beginning in 2026, potentially drawing state and local air-quality scrutiny at affected hubs. The Q3 2025 10-Q contains no incremental environmental-contingency disclosure in the reviewed sections [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1090727/000162828025049661/ups-20250930.htm].