After VW Scandal, Sen. Markey Introduces Legislation To Fine Automakers Violating Emission Laws

WASHINGTON, DC - Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey, with a couple of colleagues, introduced legislation to fine automakers who violate the federate Clean Air Act, after Volkswagen scandal.

Markey, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and two Congressmen introduced legislation last week that would deny Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) credits to any auto manufacturer that circumvents emissions control requirements.

The lawmakers have introduced the bill in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal that saw the automaker violate the Clean Air Act by installing defeat devices in approximately half a million of its U.S. vehicles that allowed them to emit up to 40 times more emissions than those allowed under U.S. law.

The Compensating Losses to the Environment from Automobiles with Noxious Undisclosed Pollution (CLEAN-UP) Act would also allow the Department of Transportation to collect additional penalties from automakers that obtain CAFE credits fraudulently.

“It’s a simple principle: polluters should pay for and should never be allowed to profit from the pollution they produce,” said Sen. Markey, in a press release. “The CLEAN-UP Act will ensure that automakers don’t enjoy any CAFE benefits they were awarded as a result of illegal behavior. This legislation will protect Americans from automakers that try to cheat emissions rules while also protecting the air we breathe from pollution. I thank Senator Blumenthal, Congressman Rush and Ranking Member Pallone for their partnership on this legislation and look forward to working with them to hold VW and all automakers accountable for their actions.”

“Under this bill, companies that violated the Clean Air Act will have their penalty funds directed toward programs that restore and improve the air they so shamelessly damaged,” said Sen. Blumenthal in a press release. “Instead of providing CAFE credits to fraudsters, we will be providing critical funding to programs that clean up old school buses and invest in EV charging stations. Volkswagen deliberately and illegally deceived millions of loyal customers—claiming their cars were environmentally friendly while cheating emissions tests and polluting the air we breathe. We must hold Volkswagen accountable for its inexcusable actions, and do everything we can to prevent any other company from doing this in the future. This commonsense legislation will ensure companies cannot reap the rewards of corporate average fuel economy credits as a result of their illegal behavior.”

“We must hold automakers and any other company accountable for violating environmental laws,” said Rep. Bobby Rush, of Illinois, in a statement “The priority of this bill is to protect the environment and carry out the Department of Transportation’s CAFE standards. As lawmakers, we cannot permit companies that knowingly endanger the health of American citizens and damage the environment to receive tax credits.”

The legislation also establishes an Air Quality Restoration Fund, modeled after the legislation enacted after the BP oil spill, that would use monies collected from VW or other automakers that violate the law to be made available to programs that restore and improve air quality.

Those could include projects that invest in electric vehicle fueling stations, retrofitting school buses to reduce air emissions, purchasing zero-emitting cars for municipal fleets, or providing grants for projects to improve air quality in low-income communities.