In December 2023, engine manufacturer Cummins was hit with a massive $1.675 billion penalty for intentionally selling emissions defeat devices in what was the largest-ever penalty for a violation of the Clean Air Act. Now, in a recent press conference reported on by The Drive, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has doubled down on its stance: it simply will not rest until Cummins has paid every single dollar of its fine.
Part of Cummins’ punishment also involves the recall of 630,000 trucks that will need to be repaired, Reuters reports. Pollution remedies will tack on an additional $325 million to Cummins’ $1.675 billion civil penalty.
Cummins is still claiming that it has “no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith and does not admit wrongdoing,” but a press conference held by the EPA, the Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board tells a much different story, as per The Drive.
From the story:
David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, spoke very candidly about the case. “Cummins deserves to pay every dollar,” he told me, calling the company’s actions a “brazen scheme.” You’d probably expect an enforcement leader to say such a thing, but just as important as the words he said is the conviction that he spoke with.
Uhlmann was nominated for his role recently, back in July of 2023, and has dedicated his time in office to guaranteeing that the EPA actually enforces the rules it has laid out. As per quotes recorded in The Drive, that means increasing the number of on-site inspections and criminal investigations designed to punish “polluters who break the law and expose our communities to harm.”
As a reminder, Cummins’ fine is a result of the EPA’s ruling that the company installed emissions defeat devices in hundreds of thousands of Ram pickup trucks. Cummins adamantly denies this claim, but its billion-dollar penalty is a result of an agreement made with the Justice Department.
In speaking with the Drive, Uhlmann raised an interesting point: the EPA’s enforcement of its own rules has been pretty slack in recent years. That’s due to both budget cuts and to the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the number of on-site inspections the agency could undertake. Now that it can get back to business, the EPA is ready to make an example out of companies like Cummins that have been found to have broken the law.