Cummins Agrees to Settle Claims of Emissions Tests Cheating

Cummins Inc., the manufacturer of diesel engines, has reached an agreement with the United States and the State of California. The $1.675 billion settlement would be the largest penalty for Clean Air Act Violations. Hundreds of thousands of engines were found with an emission-cheating defeat device. There were 630,000 defeat devices from 2013 to 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. 

The Clean Air Act requires automakers and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits. Defeat devices can be hardware or software, which can modify emission tests. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland from The Justice Department issued the following statement:

“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the environmental laws that protect the American people from harmful pollutants. 

“Today, the Justice Department reached an initial agreement with Cummins Inc. to settle claims that, over the past decade, the company unlawfully altered hundreds of thousands of engines to bypass emissions tests in violation of the Clean Air Act. As part of the agreement, the Justice Department will require Cummins to pay $1.675 billion, the largest civil penalty we have ever secured under the Clean Air Act, and the second largest environmental penalty ever secured.

“The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people’s health and safety. For example, in this case, our preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides. The cascading effect of those pollutants can, over long-term exposure, lead to breathing issues like asthma and respiratory infections."

Cummins released a statement on Friday, December 22nd, stating Cummins “has seen no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith.” Along with this statement, Cummins said they "fully cooperated" with regulators.