Below is a press release from Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office pertaining to the recent $157 million settlement between Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche with Massachusetts and 9 other states.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT:
March 30, 2017 Chloe Gotsis
(617) 727-2543
AG HEALEY ANNOUNCES RECORD-SETTING $20 MILLION SETTLEMENT BY VOLKSWAGEN, AUDI, AND PORSCHE FOR KNOWINGLY SELLING ILLEGALLY POLLUTING CARS AND SUVS
Multistate Settlements Announced Today Include Unprecedented $157 Million in Payments to States for Environmental Violations, and Provide New Electric Zero-Emission Vehicles
BOSTON – Attorney General Maura Healey announced today that Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche, as well as their American subsidiaries, have agreed to pay $157 million to settle environmental claims by Massachusetts and 9 other states. The settlement provides a $20 million payment to Massachusetts, including the largest civil penalty ever obtained in an environmental enforcement case brought by the state. In addition, the automakers have agreed to increase the availability of new electric zero-emission vehicles in Massachusetts and other states.
A multistate investigation, led by AG Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, culminated last year with the filing of lawsuits against the automakers under state environmental laws for selling more than 570,000 2.0- and 3.0-liter diesel vehicles (including more than 15,000 in Massachusetts) fitted with undisclosed and illegal “defeat device” software that allowed the vehicles to pass formal emissions testing while concealing from consumers and regulators the vehicles’ excessive emissions of harmful pollutants of up to 35 times the legal limit during normal driving.
“Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche perpetrated one of the most egregious frauds in corporate history, and then repeatedly lied to the public and regulators to cover up their deceit. These companies’ actions flagrantly violated the state laws that protect public health and polluted the air that we breathe,” AG Healey said. “This record-setting settlement shows that state attorneys general will pursue enforcement against powerful interests that illegally deceive consumers and pollute the air.”
Filed in July 2016, AG Healey’s complaint alleges Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche resorted to the defeat devices because of their inability to develop diesel emissions control systems that would otherwise comply with applicable emissions standards, and knowing that what they doing was illegal. The complaint further alleges that, as a result of the illegal defeat devices, which the automakers actively concealed from regulators for nearly a decade, the automakers caused thousands of additional tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) to be spewed onto streets around the country.
NOx pollution presents grave risks to human health. It contributes to the formation of harmful ground-level ozone (smog) and soot. Exposure to smog and soot is linked to a number of respiratory- and cardiovascular-related health effects, including premature death. Children, older adults, people who are active outdoors (including outdoor workers), and people with heart or lung disease are particularly at risk for health effects related to smog or soot exposure. Nitrogen dioxide formed by NOx emissions can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, and may also contribute to the development of asthma in children. In Massachusetts, the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issues air quality alerts on numerous days every year because ozone levels make the air unhealthy to breathe.
“The actions of these automakers knowingly caused excess NOx emissions to pollute the air in communities across the Commonwealth,” said MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg. “This settlement requires VW to advance the sales of zero-emission vehicles in Massachusetts, which will help us meet our important emission reduction goals under the Clean Air Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act.”
Under the terms of today’s settlement, which was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the automakers admitted that the defeat device software rendered the vehicles’ emissions control systems inoperative outside of emissions test conditions and that they did not disclose the existence of the software in their applications for permission to sell the vehicle in the States.
The lawsuits by AG Healey’s office and other state attorneys general followed an extensive investigation by a multistate coalition of over 40 states and other jurisdictions, led by Massachusetts, New York, and four other states. Massachusetts’s Department of Environmental Protection and other state environmental agencies provided important assistance with the investigation.
Today’s settlement builds on the car companies’ June 2016 partial settlement with state attorneys general of claims for penalties for consumer deception totaling $570 million nationwide, including more than $20 million for Massachusetts, as well as the companies’ agreement to establish a fund to mitigate the environmental damage caused by their admitted misconduct. Under that agreement, Massachusetts is designated to receive $75 million for diesel and electric vehicle projects to reduce NOx emissions. Related federal and nationwide consumer class action settlements entered in October 2016 included a comprehensive consumer relief program for 2.0-liter diesel vehicle owners and lessees, providing each consumer a restitution payment and a choice between a buy back of the affected vehicle at its pre-scandal value or a modification to the vehicle’s emission system. Proposed federal and nationwide consumer class action settlements filed in December 2016 and January 2017 seek to expand the consumer relief program to include 3.0-liter diesel vehicles. In January 2017, Volkswagen agreed to plead guilty to various federal crimes and pay a $2.5 billion fine, as well as nearly $1.5 billion in Clean Air Act civil penalties for its conduct in this case.
For the states involved, today’s settlement resolves claims that the companies’ conduct violated state environmental laws and regulations. In Massachusetts, the settlement includes:
· A $20 million payment to the state of Massachusetts.
· A commitment to make new Volkswagen zero-emission electric vehicles available in Massachusetts to grow the market for such vehicles and further reduce vehicle air emissions.
· Comprehensive factual admissions by the companies, including the admissions by Volkswagen AG attached to its federal guilty plea.
The case was handled in Massachusetts by Gillian Feiner, Chief of AG Healey’s False Claims Division, Christophe Courchesne, Chief of AG Healey’s Environmental Protection Division, and Peter Mulcahy, an Assistant Attorney General in AG Healey’s Environmental Protection Division, with assistance from Assistant Attorney General Gary Klein, Investigator Anthony Crespi of AG Healey’s Investigations Division and Financial Investigator Krista Roche. At the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Chief Bureau Counsel Laurel Mackay and Acting Assistant Commissioner Christine Kirby in the Bureau of Air and Waste also made important contributions to the case.
For a consumer information based on today’s settlement click here
To view today’s settlement click here
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Sincerely,
Community Engagement Division
Office of Attorney General Maura Healey
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
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