A settlement was announced on July 28th 2011 between The United States Environmental Protection Agency in conjunction with the United States Department of Justice’s suit against Caterpillar Inc. The initial suit claimed that Caterpillar Inc. had violated terms set forth in the Clean Air Act when it shipped more than 590,000 diesel engines for both highway and off road vehicles with out proper emissions controls. The Company was also accused of improper labeling and control reporting.

The specific section of the Clean Air Act that was violated by the company’s actions was a regulation that requires all engines include certified after treatment devices or ATD’s. ATD’s that are regularly installed on all engines help to regulate the release of vehicle emissions once they have left the engine and been introduced into a vehicles exhaust system. Two of the most common after treatment devices are diesel particulate filters and catalytic converters. The other major engine element that helps control vehicle emissions is the fuel injector and fuel map settings. Caterpillar also failed to properly configure the setting on their fuel maps as well as leaving out crucial ATD’s. More than five hundred ninety thousand diesel engines were shipped without the proper fuel map settings and ATD’s. As a result of Caterpillar Inc’s failures a high number of NOx and particulate pollutants were released into the atmosphere in the form of contaminated vehicle emissions by these faulty engines.

The terms of the settlement require Caterpillar Inc. to pay a two and a half million dollar fine for their negligence. In addition to the cost of the fine the company is being required to recall the entire line of improperly manufactured engines and provide their customers with all of the repairs needed to fix the fuel injectors, fuel map settings, and install ATDs that meet the Clean Air Act regulations. The settlement also addresses the environmental damage that has already been done by these improperly manufactured engines. Caterpillar Inc. has been required to empty their bank of emission credits to help cover the additional emissions that were released into the atmosphere. Finally they will be making huge improvements in the reporting procedures for all of their emissions control systems.

In addition to the Federal settlement the company faced a state claim from the state California. The same faulty engines that were the focus of the federal claims cost the company another five hundred ten thousand dollars in civil penalties. The Air Resources Board in the state handled the investigation of the state issue.

These agencies both at state and federal levels are there to ensure that businesses properly report, install, and maintain all required systems to help maintain the required levels of pollution prevention. In many cases companies see initial cost cutting as incentive to try to avoid strictly following regulations. Time and time again the Environmental Protection Agency and other State environmental agencies have imposed fees that require far more money be spent by corporations than if they had just followed the guidelines and regulations in the first place.

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Author Bio: Find out more about Environmental Consultants Insurance here and how Beacon Hill Associates can help you.

Category: Business
Keywords: Environment, Business, Industry, Insurance, Engine