GM to pay $146 million in penalties because 5.9 million older vehicles emit too much carbon dioxide

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors will pay nearly $146 million in penalties to the federal government because 5.9 million of its older vehicles failed to meet emissions and fuel economy standards.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement Wednesday that some GM vehicles from model years 2012 through 2018 did not meet federal fuel economy requirements.

The penalty comes after the Environmental Protection Agency said its tests showed GM’s pickups and SUVs emit on average more than 10 percent more carbon dioxide than GM’s initial compliance tests had claimed.

The EPA said the vehicles would remain on the road and could not be repaired. GM vehicles on average use at least 10 percent more fuel than the stickers indicate, but the company will not be required to reduce the fuel economy listed on the stickers, the EPA said.

“Our investigation helped establish accountability and support an important program that reduces air pollution and protects communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

GM said in a statement that it complies with all regulations regarding pollution certification and mileage of its vehicles. The company said it does not admit any wrongdoing or that it has failed to comply with the Clean Air Act.

The problem stems from a change in testing procedures put in place by the EPA in 2016, GM spokesman Bill Grotz said.

Owners do not need to take any action because the vehicles have no defects, Grotz said.

“We believe this voluntary action is the best solution to resolve the outstanding issues with the federal government,” he said.

The EPA said the enforcement action affects about 4.6 million full-size pickups and SUVs and about 1.3 million mid-size SUVs. Affected models include the Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and Chevy Silverado. About 40 variants of GM vehicles are affected.

GM will be forced to forfeit credits used to ensure that automakers’ greenhouse gas emissions are below the fleet emissions standard in effect for the model year in question, the EPA said. In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GM said it expected the total cost to fix the problem to be $490 million.

Because GM has agreed to address the excess emissions problem, the EPA said it does not need to make a formal determination about the causes of the excess pollution.

But David Cooke, a senior vehicle analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, questioned how GM could not have known that the pollution was more than 10 percent higher than the initial test when the problem was so widespread across so many different vehicles. “You don’t just make a rounding error of more than 10 percent,” he said.

Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport campaign at the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, said GM’s violations “show why automakers can’t be trusted to protect our air and our health, and why we need tough pollution rules. Supreme Court, take note!”

In similar pollution cases, automakers have already been fined under the Clean Air Act for such violations, and the Justice Department typically steps in, Cooke said. Hyundai and Kia, for example, were the subject of Justice Department action in a similar case.

The Justice Department declined to comment, and GM said the agreement resolves all government claims.

Cooke said it’s possible GM owners could sue the company because they’re getting lower gas mileage than advertised.

In 2014, Hyundai and Kia reached a settlement in which they paid a $100 million civil penalty to end a two-year investigation into inflated fuel economy claims on window stickers on 1.2 million vehicles.

Hyundai’s affiliated Korean automakers have denied any violations of the law. Hyundai has blamed the inflated mileage on an honest misinterpretation of the EPA’s complex testing rules.

In 2015, Volkswagen admitted to intentionally rigging nearly half a million cars to circumvent U.S. emissions tests.

The German company admitted to intentionally installing software designed to “defeat” emissions tests, allowing cars to drive harder on the road while emitting up to 40 times the legal limit. The scandal cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in fines and settlements and landed two U.S. executives in prison.

___

Krisher reported from Detroit.