Written by: Rachel Schade
It is well known that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) key priority is protecting the nation’s air resources and quality.[1] One significant means of protection includes stopping aftermarket defeat devices for vehicles and engines.[2] Defeat devices illegally modify vehicles through a software designed to defeat mandated emissions controls on the vehicles and engines.[3] In a study, the EPA’s Air Enforcement Division determined that defeat devices for particular diesel trucks from 2009-2020 resulted in more than 570,000 tons of excess nitrogen oxides (NOx ) and 5,000 tons of excess particulate matter (PM) throughout a truck’s lifespan.[4] Such information encouraged the EPA to make the sale of aftermarket defeat devices a National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative (NECI) to address a primary contributor to air pollution.[5] NECIs are EPA campaigns where the organization pulls both its enforcement and compliance assurance resources to address the most serious of environmental violations.[6]
From 2015-2020, the EPA has resolved around 70 cases, primarily against retailers and manufacturers.[7] Nonetheless, the EPA did not take enforcement actions against persons who had a reasonable basis for manufacturing, selling, or installing aftermarket parts, knowing such use would not negatively impact emissions performance.[8] To increase the EPA’s enforcement powers, a manufacturer or dealer can be subject to civil penalties of up to $4,819 per device manufactured, sold, or designed, as well as criminal penalties.[9] Under 42 U.S.C. §7413(c)(2), it is a crime to intentionally “falsify, tamper with, render inaccurate, or fail to install any monitoring device or method” required by the Clean Air Act.[10]
The EPA has enforced the Clean Air Act more regularly within the past few years.[11] In April 2024, the EPA’s enforcement program announced an effort to increase collaboration between its civil and criminal enforcement programs.[12] One such case that highlighted this strategic collaborative effort is United States v. Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc.[13]
Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc. (“Rudy’s”) is a North Carolina-based company that manufactured, sold, and/or installed over 250,000 parts for diesel pickup trucks designed to remove emission controls between 2014 and 2019.[14] The emissions added by defective devices sold by Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc. are estimated to equal emissions of 11 million additional vehicles on the road each year.[15] As a result, Rudy’s and its owner, Aaron Rudolf, faced civil and criminal penalties.[16]
Both the civil and criminal cases resulted in settlements. The civil settlement included four payments over three years, totaling $7 million in civil penalties, and a consent decree.[17] The consent decree required Rudy’s to cease providing technical support for the defective devices, deny all warranty claims on such devices, stop selling defective devices, alert customers and dealers of the defective devices prohibition, provide Clean Air Act compliance training for employees, and additional requirements.[18] On September 10, 2024, under the criminal plea, both Rudy’s and Aaron Rudolf pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act in federal court in Washington, DC, and was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $2.4 million in criminal penalties.[19]
The successful enforcement of both civil and criminal penalties under the EPA’s Clean Air Act enforcement in United States v. Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc. merely highlights the importance of the EPA’s coordination efforts. As a result of this case, similar enforcement efforts are expected in the foreseeable future as the EPA seeks to tackle its main target—the manufacturers, sellers, and distributors of aftermarket defeat devices.
[1] 42 U.S.C. §7401, also known as the Clean Air Act.
[2] See Id. 7522(a)(3)(b) which “prohibits the manufacture, selling, or installation of any device that intentionally circumvents EPA emission standards…”; National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative: Stopping Aftermarket Defeat Devices for Vehicles and Engines, https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/national-enforcement-and-compliance-initiative-stopping-aftermarket-defeat-devices (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[3] National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative, supra note 2.
[4] Tampered Diesel Pickup Trucks: A Review of Aggregated Evidence from EPA Civil Enforcement Investigations (2020), https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/epaaedletterreportontampereddieselpickups.pdf (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[5] National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative, supra note 2.
[6] National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives, EPA (2024), https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/national-enforcement-and-compliance-initiatives (last visited Dec 16, 2024).
[7] One such case includes the 2019 case of United States of America v. Performance Diesel, Inc. [PDI], Civil Action No. 4:19-cv-00075-DN, which resulted in a consent decree in which PDI was ordered to pay a $1,000,000 civil penalty for the estimated 5,549 aftermarket defective products sold. PDI was ordered to stop manufacturing “tunes,” designed to “reprogram a motor vehicle’s electronic control module to alter engine performance and enable the removal of filters, catalysts, and other critical emissions controls.” Aftermarket Defeat Devices and Tampering are Illegal and Undermine Vehicle Emissions Controls (2020), https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/documents/tamperinganddefeatdevices-enfalert.pdf (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[8] Aftermarket Defeat Devices and Tampering are Illegal and Undermine Vehicle Emissions Controls, supra note 6. Such reasonable basis includes: (1) the aftermarket part is identical in design and function to the part replaced, (2) the modified vehicle or engine meets the emissions standards when tested, and (3) executive orders cover the same device or part on the exact model vehicle on which the device or part was installed.
[9] Id.; see 42 U.S.C. §§ 7523, 7524, 7413.
[10] Id. §7413.
[11] See the Rockwater Northeast LLC case news report and case summary, Six prosecuted for tampering with emissions systems on diesel trucks to pass inspection, WBRE/WYOU-TV, April 21, 2021, https://www.pahomepage.com/news/six-prosecuted-for-tampering-with-emissions-systems-on-diesel-trucks-to-pass-inspection/; Summary of criminal prosecutions, EPA, https://cfpub.epa.gov/compliance/criminal_prosecution/index.cfm?action=3&prosecution_summary_id=3290&searchParams=M5%2C%3A%2FXT%2A%5CCYZ%40O%3B+W_%2AYN5%5E%3EK99%2A%29W%3CU%3FV%23DH%5BZ4%267TRPH%3BJQH%229%3FD%3C%26Z%40CY%26%0AM7EFH%21%25%21%3A%23%3DV%40%3A%2A_%3AB8%2A%5DR%3BB%25%5E9%5B2D%22I2K565NEY7M%21-U%40%2B8%22J%29Y%23%24LNJ%40DX%24%0A%2F5YJ%3EP%27O_K04_G%5C%3E%290M4%2C%0A (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[12] Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy (2024), https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-04/strategic-civil-criminal-enforcement-policy-april-2024.pdf (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[13] See the civil case, United States v. Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., 1:22CV495 (M.D.N.C. July 29, 2024).
[14] Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., and Aaron Rudolf Clean Air Act Settlement Information Sheet (2024), https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/rudys-performance-parts-inc-and-aaron-rudolf-clean-air-act-settlement-information-sheet (last visited Dec 14, 2024).
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., 1:22CV495 (M.D.N.C. July 29, 2024).
[19] Rudy’s Performance Parts, Inc., and Aaron Rudolf Clean Air Act Settlement Information Sheet, supra note 13.