Ram ProMaster Diesel Engines – CARB Fines FCA $4.2M

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) said this week it has reached a settlement agreement with FCA US LLC (FCA) of Auburn Hills, Mich., for $4,185,820 for violations of CARB’s air quality regulations. The FCA vehicles concerned include model year (MY) 2014 through 2016 Ram ProMaster 1500, 2500 and 3500 vehicles equipped with 3-liter inline-4 diesel engines.*

“CARB’s robust compliance testing ensures that auto manufacturers sell the exact vehicles that received certification for sale within California, without alterations made to skirt the state’s regulations and release excess emissions that harm air quality and public health,” said CARB Executive Officer Dr. Steven Cliff.

During follow-up compliance testing by CARB, the engine configuration was found to have an unapproved device that circumvented emissions control and did not comply with the emissions standards used when the engine was originally certified for sale in California.

As a pernicious result, the engines exhibited different emissions control behavior during real-world operation versus certification testing, resulting in nearly 55 tons of excess oxides of nitrogen being released into the air. As part of the settlement agreement, FCA will recall the vehicles to modify the emission control system to be compliant with state vehicle emission regulations. FCA is now part of the Stellantis global automotive empire.

The FCA settlement includes a more than $2 million civil penalty that will go to CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California’s air quality. The remaining $2,092,910 will fund a Supplemental Environment Project, dubbed Marine Vessel Speed Reduction Incentive Program, through the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. The project aims to provide incentives for ocean-going cargo vessels to slow down in certain areas during peak whale and ozone seasons to provide wildlife and air quality benefits. [FCA shall not deduct any monies spent to comply with any provision of this Settlement Agreement in calculating and submitting its federal, state, or local income tax. – AutoCrat]

Previously, CARB entered a joint settlement in 2022 with FCA for similar allegations that the company violated the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Device Regulation with certain gas engines. The company also settled with CARB in 2019 for allegations that the company violated environmental and consumer protection laws by using “defeat-device software” to circumvent emissions testing on more than 100,000 vehicles nationwide.

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