California, Feds Reject Volkswagen Recall "Fix"

Typography

Last week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said “no deal” to Volkswagen’s proposal to buy back some of the vehicles that were outfitted with cheat devices. According to CARB, the plan, which would see the recall of only a fraction of the 600,000 U.S. cars affected in the latest VW scandal, does “not adequately address overall impacts on vehicle performance, emissions and safety,” and would not fix the cars’ pollution problems quickly enough.

Last week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said “no deal” to Volkswagen’s proposal to buy back some of the vehicles that were outfitted with cheat devices. According to CARB, the plan, which would see the recall of only a fraction of the 600,000 U.S. cars affected in the latest VW scandal, does “not adequately address overall impacts on vehicle performance, emissions and safety,” and would not fix the cars’ pollution problems quickly enough.

CARB’s response comes a week after the U.S. Justice Department filed a suit against VW for violating federal clean air laws and attempting to deceive consumers and regulators about the vehicles’ actual performance.

The suit was filed on behalf of the EPA, which announced yesterday that it concurs with CARB’s rejection. In a statement last week addressing the EPA’s plan to take VW to court, Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles, who represents the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said that legal action was an initial step  in “bringing VW to justice.”

Giles continued: “So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”

Continue reading at ENN affiliate, Triple Pundit.

VW image credit Simone Mescolini via Shutterstock.