Turn 14 Clean Air Act Settlement Summary

On January 17, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement with Turn 14 Distribution, Inc.  (“Turn 14”), for violations of the Clean Air Act from the sale of devices that “defeat” emissions control systems in cars and trucks.  

Defeating vehicle emission controls causes the release of excess air pollution including nitrogen oxides (NOx), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM) above legal limits. Excess pollution from vehicles with defeat devices harms public health and impedes efforts by EPA, tribes, states, and local agencies to plan for and attain air quality standards. Under the settlement, the defendant will pay $3.6 million. 

• Overview of Turn 14 
• Summary of the Violations
• Summary of Environmental and Health Impacts
• Overview of the Consent Decree
• Comment Period
• Contact Information 

Overview of Turn 14

Turn 14 is one of the country’s largest wholesale distributors of automotive parts and suppliers in the United States, with warehouses located in Hatfield, PA, Reno, NV, Arlington, TX, and Indianapolis, IN. Turn 14 purchases products from manufacturers and sells them to other distributors or retail outlets through its private, online, business-to-business website.  

Summary of the Violations 

Summary of Environmental and Health Impacts

EPA estimates that the defeat devices Turn 14 sold will cause additional air pollution equal to adding over 121,000 vehicles to America’s roads. EPA testing has shown that a vehicle’s emissions increase drastically (tens or hundreds of times, depending on the pollutant) when its emissions controls are removed. Car and truck exhaust includes nitrogen, oxides, particulate, matter, nonmethane, hydrocarbons, carbon, monoxide, hazardous air pollutants, and other pollutants. Diesel exhaust is an air toxic because it poses cancer and noncancer health risks.  

Nonmethane hydrocarbons result from incomplete fuel combustion and fuel evaporation and form smog, which causes health problems such as difficulty breathing, lung damage, and decreased cardiovascular functioning. Some nonmethane hydrocarbons are also considered toxic, meaning they can cause cancer and other health problems.  

Nitrogen oxide emissions from mobile sources pose significant health and environmental concerns and contribute to the formation of smog and particulate matter and can cause asthma, difficult or painful breathing, and chronic bronchitis, especially in children and the elderly. It is also a major cause of substantial haze in many parts of the United States.  

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that forms when carbon in fuel does not burn completely. It causes the reduction of oxygen to the body’s organs and tissues, and symptoms may include visual impairment, headache, and reduced work capacity. 

Overview of the Consent Decree

Turn 14 will pay a civil penalty of $3.6 million and take the following actions to ensure compliance with Clean Air Act regulations and avoid future violations:  

• Cease to manufacture, sell, offer to sell, distribute, or install in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine any aftermarket defeat device.  
• Destroy all aftermarket defeat devices in its possession or control.  
• Refrain from providing technical support for the aftermarket defeat devices. 
• Ensure all Turn 14’s fleet vehicles’ emission controls are present and fully operational. 
• Deny all warranty claims for the aftermarket defeat devices.  
• Abstain from disseminating marketing materials with information relating to replacing, overwriting, deleting, bypassing, defeating, or rendering inoperative any emission control.  
• Notify known customers of the aftermarket defeat devices in this settlement using specified language that explains the Clean Air Act’s defeat device prohibition.  
• Inform Turn 14’s officers and employees of the Clean Air Act prohibitions using specified language that explains the Clean Air Act’s defeat device prohibition.  
• Require Turn 14’s officers to forfeit all aftermarket defeat devices in their possession or installed on any motor vehicle they own or operate. 
• Provide Clean Air Act compliance training to all Turn 14’s officers, employees, contractors, and consultants.  

Comment Period

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on providing public comment, and the complaint and proposed consent decree are available on the DOJ's Proposed Consent Decree webpage.  

Contact Information

For further information about this settlement, please contact:

Mark Palermo, Legal Branch Manager 
Air Enforcement Division 
Office of Civil Enforcement and Compliance Assurance 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
palermo.mark@epa.gov