This Ram truck grille is displayed at the Pittsburgh Auto Show on February 15, 2018. The Department of Justice released new details on the settlement with engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. on Wednesday, which includes a mandatory recall of 600,000 Ram trucks.
Jane J. Pushkar/AP
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Jane J. Pushkar/AP
This Ram truck grille is displayed at the Pittsburgh Auto Show on February 15, 2018. The Department of Justice released new details on the settlement with engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. on Wednesday, which includes a mandatory recall of 600,000 Ram trucks.
Jane J. Pushkar/AP
The Justice Department released new details about the settlement with engine maker Cummins Inc. on Wednesday, which includes a mandatory recall of 600,000 Ram trucks, and for Cummins to address environmental damage it caused when it illegally installed emissions control software in several thousand vehicles, avoiding emissions testing.
Cummins is accused of circumventing emissions testing with devices that can bypass or defeat emissions controls. The engine manufacturer will pay a $1.675 billion civil penalty to settle the claims — which were previously announced in December and are the largest ever under the Clean Air Act — as well as $325 million in damages.
It brings Cummins' total penalty for the violations to more than $2 billion, according to Wednesday's announcement, which officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board and the California Attorney General described as a “milestone” in a call with reporters Wednesday. .
“Let this settlement be a lesson: We will not allow greedy companies to cheat their way to success and disregard the health and well-being of consumers and our environment along the way,” said California AG Rob Bonta.
Over the course of a decade, hundreds of thousands of Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks – manufactured by Stellantis – have been equipped with Cummins diesel engines that include Bypass Engine Control software. This includes 630,000 devices installed with illegal defeat devices and 330,000 devices with undisclosed emission control auxiliary devices.
Officials could not estimate how many of these vehicles are currently on the road, but Cummins — which has maintained it has done nothing wrong — should undergo a nationwide recall of more than 600,000 noncompliant Ram vehicles, in addition to recall efforts conducted previously.
Stellantis deferred comment on the case to engine maker Cummins, which said in a statement that Wednesday's actions do not entail any greater financial obligations than those announced in December. “We look forward to gaining certainty as we conclude this lengthy matter and continue to deliver on our mission of providing energy for a more prosperous world,” the statement said.
Cummins also said the non-recalled engines did not exceed emissions limits.
As part of the settlement, Cummins is also expected to support projects to address excess emissions resulting from its actions.
Preliminary estimates are that its emissions override produced “thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides,” U.S. Attorney Merrick B. said. Garland previously said in a prepared statement.
The Clean Air Act, a 1963 federal law to reduce and control air pollution across the country, requires automobile and engine manufacturers to adhere to emissions limits to protect the environment and human health.
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