Xtreme Diesel Performance, LLC, Clean Air Act Settlement

(Washington, DC  – September 15, 2021)  – Today, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Xtreme Diesel Performance, LLC (XDP), to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) associated with the manufacture, sale, and/or offer to sell aftermarket products that defeat the emissions control systems equipped on diesel pickup trucks. As part of the settlement, XDP has agreed to stop the sale of all products the government alleges violate the CAA. XDP will also pay a civil penalty of $1,125,000 over approximately two years due to its financial inability to pay a higher penalty.

This case resolution is part of the EPA’s National Compliance Initiative for the EPA, entitled Stopping Aftermarket Defeat Devices for Vehicles and Engines. EPA is vigorously pursuing enforcement against those who violate the defeat device and tampering prohibitions of the Clean Air Act. For examples of other similar civil judicial settlements, see the EPA’s settlements with Performance Diesel, Inc. and Advanced Flow Engineering, Inc. To report a violation, send an email to tampering@epa.gov or submit the information through the EPA’s website.

• Overview
• Violations
• Compliance Requirements
• Pollutant Impacts
• Health Effects and Environmental Benefits
• Civil Penalty
• For More Information, Contact

Overview

XDP manufactures, markets, and sells aftermarket automotive products for diesel pickup trucks nationwide. XDP is headquartered in Wall Township, New Jersey, and has a sales and distribution center in Las Vegas, Nevada. XDP conducts its business by selling to downstream distributors and retailers and also to individual customers through its website, https://www.xtremediesel.com/.

Violations

XDP manufactured, sold, and/or offered to sell at least 27,000 aftermarket defeat devices designed for diesel pickup trucks between January 1, 2015, and May 31, 2017. More specifically, XDP manufactured and sold products designed to disable or bypass exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems equipped on diesel pickup trucks. XDP also marketed and sold other EGR delete kits, empty exhaust pipes (a.k.a., “straight pipes”), and electronic tuning devices (“tuners”) that disable filters, catalysts, EGR systems, and other critical emissions control devices equipped on diesel pickup trucks.

These emissions control devices were installed on motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines by original equipment manufacturers (i.e., truck manufacturers) in order to comply with Clean Air Act emission standards. XDP’s aftermarket products were designed for use with numerous models of vehicles, including diesel trucks manufactured by Ford, GM, and Dodge. Accordingly, the EPA alleges that each act of manufacturing and each sale constitutes a violation of Section 203(a)(3)(B) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7522(a)(3)(B).

Compliance Requirements

The Consent Decree specifies steps XDP must take to prevent future violations. The Consent Decree contains the following compliance requirements:

Under the Consent Decree, XDP must not manufacture, sell, offer to sell, distribute, or install in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine any of the at least 263 subject products identified in Appendix A to the Consent Decree. The Consent Decree also requires XDP to destroy subject products left in XDP’s inventory. In addition, the Consent Decree requires XDP to:

• cease providing technical support for the subject products;
• deny all warranty claims for the subject products;
• instruct authorized dealers to no longer provide technical support or honor warranty claims pertaining to the subject products;
• revise all marketing materials to strike any information relating to replacing, defeating, bypassing, or rendering inoperative any emission control;
• not sell or transfer any intellectual property associated with the subject products;
• notify authorized dealers and known customers of the subject products of the settlement using specified language that informs the authorized dealers and known customers that the products at issue violate the Clean Air Act;
• notify XDP’s officers and employees of the Clean Air Act prohibitions using specified language which explains the Clean Air Act’s defeat device prohibition;
• require each of XDP’s officers to return any subject product in his or her control, which XDP must then destroy; and
• provide Clean Air Act compliance training for all officers, employees, contractors, and consultants whose responsibilities involve the sale, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, research and development, and/or technical support of aftermarket parts for motor vehicles.

The Consent Decree also prohibits XDP from possessing any ownership interest in any entity that XDP knows, or with reasonable diligence should know, manufactures, sells, offers to sell, or installs any subject product or assist any entity with such activity.

Finally, in addition to the list of identified subject products, the above requirements apply to any product that bypasses, defeats, renders inoperative, or deletes the function of an emissions control. Products that are exempt from the above requirements include those for which the California Air Resources Board has issued an Executive Order.

Pollutant Impacts

Today’s vehicles emit far less pollution than vehicles of the past. This is made possible by careful engine calibrations, and the use of filters and catalysts in the exhaust system. Aftermarket defeat devices undo this progress and pollute the air we breathe. The emissions impact depends on the original vehicle design and the extent of the vehicle modifications. 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.

Here, XDP’s defeat devices enabled the removal of the EGR systems, filters, catalysts, and other emissions control systems that are necessary to treat air pollution formed in the engine before it is emitted into the ambient air.

Health Effects and Environmental Benefits

The Clean Air Act aims to reduce emissions from mobile sources of air pollution, including nitrogen oxides (NO_x). Mobile sources of air pollution contribute approximately 58% of the nation’s NO_x emissions. EPA testing demonstrates that installing aftermarket parts can result in increased NO_x emissions from mobile sources.

NO_x emissions pose significant health and environmental concerns. NO_x form when fuel burns at high temperatures. NO_x can travel long distances, causing a variety of health and environmental problems in locations far from their emissions source, including ozone and smog. NO_x also contribute to the formation of particulate matter (PM) through chemical reactions in the atmosphere, and PM can cause asthma, difficult or painful breathing, and chronic bronchitis, especially in children and the elderly. It is also a major cause of substantial visibility impairment in many parts of the United States.

The key health effects categories associated with ambient PM include premature mortality, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravated asthma, and acute respiratory symptoms including aggravated coughing and difficult or painful breathing, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function that can be experienced as shortness of breath. Symptoms of immunological effects such as wheezing and increased allergenicity have also been observed. Diesel exhaust PM is of special concern. The EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee has concluded that diesel exhaust is likely carcinogenic to humans.

EPA estimates that this settlement will prevent the future sale of approximately 11,000 illegal products per year. EPA further estimates that the products XDP sold between January 2015 and May 2017 may result in more than 12 million pounds of excess NO_x emissions and 115,000 pounds of excess PM emissions over the anticipated remaining life of the diesel pickup trucks equipped with XDP’s defeat devices. This enforcement action will prevent additional excess emissions that would have resulted from the continued sale of these illegal products.

Civil Penalty

XDP will pay a civil penalty of $1,125,000 in three payments of $375,000 (plus interest) over approximately two years due to its financial inability to pay a higher penalty.

For More Information, Contact:

Ryan Bickmore
Attorney-Advisor
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OECA
(303) 312-6502
bickmore.ryan@epa.gov

Kingsley Adeduro
Environmental Engineer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (ENF-2-1)
(415) 947-4182
adeduro.kingsley@epa.gov