LISLE, Illinois, November 11, 2021 (ENS) – Navistar International Corporation, which manufactures trucks and diesel engines in Lisle, has agreed to pay a $52 million civil penalty and mitigate at least 10,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions from older, heavily-polluting commercial vehicles and equipment to resolve violations of the federal Clean Air Act.
The case has taken a long time for resolution – six years of prosecution for actions that took place 11 years ago.
In 2015, the United States filed suit against Navistar alleging that back in 2010, after lower emission standards went into effect during the Obama Administration, the company introduced into commerce 7,749 of these heavy-duty diesel trucks 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.
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, a powerful air pollutant known to cause adverse health effects.
The American Lung Association says just one of these nitrogen oxides, called nitrogen dioxide (NO2), causes, “increased inflammation of the airways; worsened cough and wheezing; reduced lung function; increased asthma attacks; and greater likelihood of emergency department and hospital admissions. New research warns that NO2 is likely to be a cause of asthma in children.”
“Older diesel engines without modern emissions controls emit significant amounts of air pollution that harms people’s health and takes years off people’s lives,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
“This harm is greatest in communities near busy roadways, which are too often overburdened by high levels of ozone and particulate matter pollution. Today’s settlement will protect these vulnerable communities by preventing the emission of 10,000 tons of NOx from older, heavily-polluting commercial vehicles and equipment.”
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said, “The department’s steadfast pursuit of this case achieved a just result, including that the company must mitigate the harm it caused and, in doing so, specifically must consider assisting communities overburdened by pollution.”
Navistar must now structure its mitigation of NOx emissions through programs approved by EPA that will take into consideration geographic diversity and benefits to communities overburdened by air pollution. Navistar will report to the EPA on its implementation to ensure compliance with the environmental justice and geographic distribution requirements in the settlement agreement, called a consent decree.
Public comment is accepted on this consent decree until the end of day November 29, 2021. To submit a comment visit: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/us-v-navistar-inc
Now Navistar is heading in a new direction. In August, Navistar announced the launch of the new fully-electric International® eMV™ Series trucks.
Debbie Shust, Navistar’s vice president medium-duty trucks, said, “Our team has worked tirelessly to build an all-electric medium-duty vehicle solution that offers our customers all the environmental benefits of a zero emissions vehicle, while delivering the capabilities of a traditional medium-duty truck.”
Known as International Harvester Company for most of the last century (1902–1986), Navistar International now operates through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico and more than 60 dealers in 90 countries.
Featured image: Navistar headquarters in Lisle, Illinois (Photo courtesy Wikipedia)
