EPA Settles with Two Companies for Violating Clean Air Act Vehicle Emission Requirements
WASHINGTON – On Oct. 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced two settlement agreements following violations of the Clean Air Act. The first, with The Shyft Group, Inc. (“Shyft”), addresses its failure to comply with greenhouse gas certification requirements related to carbon dioxide emission standards in vehicles. The second, with Double R Diesel, addresses its violations of the prohibition against the manufacture or sale of aftermarket products. Shyft agreed pay a $2 million civil penalty, and Double R Diesel agreed to pay a penalty of nearly $10,000 and stop selling defeat device products.
“For more than three decades, the Clean Air Act has outlawed the sale of aftermarket defeat devices and required companies to meet vehicle certification requirements to protect human health and the environment,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “We will continue to hold companies accountable when they put profits before public health and expose our communities to harmful air pollution.”
For model years 2017 through 2021, Shyft manufactured for sale 4,315 uncertified “vocational” vehicles, vehicles generally built to handle a specific job or task, such as pick-up and delivery, garbage collection, concrete mixing, distribution, tree trimming or firefighting. The EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board ratified the settlement agreement on Sept. 27, 2024.
Vocational vehicle manufacturers are required by the Clean Air Act’s greenhouse gas regulations to demonstrate, prior to introducing a vehicle into commerce, that all requirements are met, including the installation of fuel-efficient technology that satisfies EPA’s carbon dioxide emissions standards. Shyft’s failure to comply with the certificate of conformity requirements directly undermined the agency’s national greenhouse gas emissions program. After initiating this enforcement action, Shyft demonstrated compliance with the greenhouse gas certification requirements for model years after 2021.
In the second case, Double R Diesel sold nearly 5,000 aftermarket products that disable vehicles’ emissions-control systems – known as defeat devices into diesel-powered vehicles. The Environmental Appeals Board ratified the settlement agreement on Sept. 24, 2024.
Aftermarket defeat devices result in significantly higher releases of nitric oxides and particulate matter, both of which contribute to serious public health problems including asthma and chronic pulmonary disease in the United States. It is likely that the use of products sold by Double R Diesel, including exhaust after treatment delete pipes and custom calibration software files or “tunes,” resulted in material increases in several vehicle emission pollutants, including nitric oxides, carbon monoxides, nonmethane hydrocarbons and particulate matter.
Upholding the integrity of EPA’s vehicle certification program and stopping the sale of aftermarket defeat devices for vehicles and engines are top priorities for EPA.
The final decisions are available on the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board’s website.