Owner Of Rhode Island Trucking Company Admits To Violating Clean Air Act

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — The owner of a North Kingstown trucking company admitted in federal court Monday to conspiring with trucking and diesel vehicle sales and service companies throughout the U.S. and with a foreign national to violate the Clean Air Act.

Michael Collins, the owner and president of M&D Transportation, Inc., admitted to violating the federal standards by selling and providing a software program that tampered with on-board computers to alter or bypass key features in emission control systems.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established standards that limit the emission of air pollutants from various types of vehicle engines. To meet those standards, vehicle manufacturers design and install certain hardware components as part of the systems that manage and treat engine exhaust to reduce several types of pollution.

"Our environmental laws are here to protect the clean air that every Rhode Islander deserves to breathe," U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said. "When companies choose to ignore those laws and put profit over their legal duties, and spew diesel soot and contaminants across Rhode Island and New England in the process, this Office will hold them to account."

According to court documents, from September 2014 through August 2019, Collins, M&D Transportation, his now-defunct computer company Diesel Tune-Ups of RI, Inc., various trucking and diesel vehicle sales and repair companies throughout the U.S. and a foreign national all conspired to alter or disable certain functions of the electronic control modules (ECM) and on board diagnostic (OBD) monitoring systems of diesel vehicles such as semi-trucks. These alterations are referred to in the industry as "tunes."

In exchange for a fee, the foreign national would download tuning software through a laptop, provided by Collins and his companies, that was then connected to each vehicle. Prosecutors said the tuning business was marketed on Facebook, with claims that it provided increased power and better fuel mileage and offered tuning for "BigRig semi-trucks & engines," including tuning related to emission control equipment. The Facebook page directed interested companies to call a Rhode Island telephone number associated with Collins, M & D and Diesel Tune-Ups.

When tuning was done through a laptop, Collins admitted he instructed the companies to call the foreign national for further instructions once they had received the laptop. Through a remote connection, the "tunes" were then downloaded onto each vehicle’s ECM or computer to reprogram the vehicle’s monitoring systems.

The tunes tampered with the vehicle’s monitoring systems so that they would not detect malfunctions in the emission control components, thereby allowing vehicles to operate without proper emission controls. This meant the "tuned" vehicles could run with increased horsepower and torque, which can reduce maintenance and repair costs, but which results in significant increases in pollutant emissions.

Collins also employed the same techniques to circumvent emission controls on some of M & D's own diesel vehicles, prosecutors said.

Customers paid Collins' companies between $1,700 and $3,650 for each vehicle tuned. Prosecutors said Collins and his companies wired a portion of the money to their co-conspirator and retained a portion of the funds for themselves. From at least March 2017 through at least June 1, 2018, Collins oversaw deposits into the Diesel Tune-Ups bank account from fees received from about 25 different diesel trucking or repair shops throughout the United States.

According to court documents, diesel exhaust is known to contain a variety of air pollutants identified as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The act of completely removing or disabling a vehicle's emission control system can increase pollutant emissions, presenting a risk to the environment and public health.

More recent testing conducted by the EPA indicates that the pollutant increase is even greater when the emission controls are deleted from commercial semi-tractor trailer trucks.

"Tampering with diesel vehicles by installing defeat devices increases emissions of smog and soot, both of which contribute to serious health problems that often disproportionately affect families, especially children, living in underserved communities," Tyler Amon, the special agent in charge of the EPA's New England criminal division, said. "Placing profit over public health in Rhode Island has clear accountability."

Collins, M&D Transportation, and Diesel Tune Ups of RI pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. They are scheduled to be sentenced on July 10. The sentence will be determined by U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy.