Navistar to pay $52 million for emission violations in 2010 engines

26 October 2021

Navistar has agreed to pay a $52 million civil penalty and to mitigate 10,000 tons of NOx emissions in a consent decree to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has alleged that Navistar illegally introduced into commerce on‑highway heavy-duty diesel engines (HDDEs) that were not covered by EPA certificates of conformity.

In 2015, the United States filed suit against Navistar alleging that in 2010, after lower emission standards went into effect, the company introduced into commerce 7,749 HDDEs that were not certified and did not meet the lower emission standards. Navistar had marketed and sold the engines installed in its International-branded trucks as being EPA-certified model year 2009 engines, even though it completed all manufacturing and assembling processes for the engines in 2010. The court held that the engines were in fact model year 2010 engines and required to be covered by a 2010 certificate of conformity demonstrating compliance with the lower emission requirements.

After the court ruling, the litigation entered a second phase. Facing an imminent trial on the remedies, the parties reached the negotiated resolution that is captured by the consent decree.

Under the settlement, Navistar will pay a civil penalty of $52 million, forfeit its current account of NOx credits, and purchase and destroy enough older diesel engines to prevent 10,000 tons of future NOx emissions. The settlement requires Navistar to structure its mitigation of NOx emissions through one or more programs approved by the EPA that will take into consideration geographic diversity and benefits to communities that are overburdened by air pollution.

Navistar was the only US manufacturer who chose not to use urea-SCR aftertreatment in US 2010 heavy-duty engines. Eventually, the company had not been able to meet the 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx emission standard using in-cylinder controls alone, and adopted SCR technology in 2012.

Source: US EPA