US DOJ Reveals Details of $1.675B Diesel Emissions Settlement with Cummins
By Staff Writer
For weeks, the automotive industry has been buzzing with the news of engine maker Cummins agreeing to pay a whopping $1.675 billion settlement to the United States government over accusations of emissions manipulation. However, new details released by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday shed more light on this landmark case. It is now clear that the feds strongly believe that Cummins deliberately cheated on emissions regulations, making this the largest civil penalty ever imposed under the Clean Air Act.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice have accused Cummins of installing illegal defeat devices in approximately 630,000 2013-2019 Ram HD pickup trucks, allowing them to pass standard EPA emissions tests while artificially reducing the effectiveness of emissions controls outside of those conditions. Additionally, the remaining 330,000 trucks involved in the deal, consisting of 2020-2023 Ram HD models, were found to have used “undisclosed engine control software features.”
The EPA uncovered these violations at its National Fuel and Vehicle Emissions Laboratory in Michigan, where it conducts special tests that are outside standard testing parameters but are still considered normal in terms of driving conditions. These tests were conducted on Ram trucks as part of a follow-up to the EPA’s warning issued to all manufacturers in 2015 that it would crack down on defeat devices.
Deputy Administrator David M. Uhlmann of the Office of Compliance and Compliance Assurance at the EPA remarked, “Cummins installed illegal defeat devices in more than 600,000 Ram pickup trucks, exposing overburdened communities across the United States to harmful air pollution. This record Clean Air Act penalty demonstrates that EPA is committed to holding polluters accountable and ensuring companies pay a high price when they break the law.”
Despite Cummins’ assertion that it has “seen no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith and does not admit wrongdoing,” Uhlmann refuted that claim, stating that the company “wouldn’t pay $2 billion today if it did nothing wrong.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta also accused Cummins of knowingly harming people’s health and the environment by circumventing regulations at the federal and state levels.
As part of the settlement, Cummins has agreed to repair 85% of 2013-2019 Ram HD trucks equipped with defeat devices within three years. Fiat Chrysler and its dealers will work collaboratively with Cummins to complete the recall program, which involves only software updates.
In addition to the record settlement, Cummins will pay over $325 million to remedy CAA violations, fully offsetting the excess NOx emissions released by the nearly one million pickup trucks involved in the case. Part of the settlement amount will also go towards replacing 27 aging locomotive engines with new low-emission diesel or electric engines, as well as funding 50 projects to reduce downtime of diesel-powered switching locomotives. Cummins will pay just over $175 million to the California Air Resources Board for related mitigation.
Federal officials emphasize that the Cummins deal is intended to send a message to other manufacturers: Comply or pay.
For more information, contact the author of this article at caleb@thedrive.com.