Harley-Davidson to pay 15 million USD to settle emissions charge

Harley-Davidson has agreed to pay a 15 million US Dollar fine and fund environmental remediation efforts after apparently selling aftermarket devices that allowed motorcyclists to cheat emissions standards.

The American motorcycle manufacturer will pay a 12 million US Dollars civil penalty and three million US Dollars toward environmental efforts in a deal with the Environmental Protection Agency after the agency accused the company of selling about 3.4 lakh "super tuners" that increased power and raised harmful emissions.

In a statement, John C. Cruden, Assistant Attorney General, head of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said, "Given Harley-Davidson’s prominence in the industry, this is a very significant step toward our goal of stopping the sale of illegal aftermarket defeat devices that cause harmful pollution on our roads and in our communities. Anyone else who manufactures, sells, or installs these types of illegal products should take heed of Harley-Davidson’s corrective actions and immediately stop violating the law.”

In response, Ed Moreland, Harley-Davidson’s government affairs director said, “This settlement is not an admission of liability but instead represents a good-faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly EPA’s assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition. Anyone else who manufactures, sells, or installs these types of illegal products should take heed of Harley-Davidson’s corrective actions and immediately stop violating the law."

This increased scrutiny from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), comes after carmaker Volkswagen admitted to using illegal software to bypass US Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations.

Source - usatoday.com