“Lax EPA testing let Volkswagen cheat auto buyers and pollute our air for years without getting caught”, said Kristen Monsell of the Center.
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday accuses Volkswagen and Audi for reportedly using a software to allegedly cheat on the USA emission tests. It follows Volkswagen’s admission earlier this month that it equipped certain diesel models with software meant to defeat government-mandated emissions tests. And most states do not require owners of diesel cars to submit them to an emissions test to get a vehicle registration renewed. It also calls for EPA testing to determine if technologies created to evade regulations, known as defect devices, are prevalent. The Center’s petition urges the highway administration to increase the penalty to the statutory maximum of $10 per 0.1 mile per gallon shortfall.
The group is also asking for much higher fines from the NHTSA for companies that violate fuel-economy standards because those rules directly relate to how much carbon dioxide cars emit – a gas that has been linked to global warming. The devices can detect when a auto is being tested in a lab and adjust engine operations to emit less-polluting exhaust during the test than in real-world driving conditions.
Nitrogen oxide contributes to ozone formation, which can cause health problems such as chest pain and coughing, and can worsen bronchitis and asthma, Harris County said in its lawsuit.
“If EPA had used the technology back then (on diesel cars), we could have caught it”, said Margo Oge, who was director of the EPA’s office of Transportation and Air Quality at the time and headed the office for 18 years until 2012. “We can’t allow the students to test themselves and submit their own grades”. “The Volkswagen debacle ought to be a wake-up call for the agency to make that happen”.
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The agency didn’t have an immediate comment on the Center for Biological Diversity petition.
