Editors note: This story has been updated.
Cummins will pay $1.675 billion to settle claims that it violated the Clean Air Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The claims, leveled by the United States and the State of California, accused Cummins of installing emissions defeat devices on hundreds of thousands of engines used on Ram pickup trucks.
The claims allege that the devices were installed on Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks in model years 2013 to 2019. "Undisclosed auxiliary devices" were installed on 330,000 model year 2019 to 2023 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup truck engines, according to DOJ.
Read also: Sustainability is More than a Buzzword
Cummins must complete a nationwide vehicle recall to repair and replace the engine control software in more than 600,000 Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 pickup trucks as part of the settlement proposed by the DOJ. The recall would cost Cummins more than $325 million to remedy the violations.
Cummins will also extend the warranty period for certain parts in the repaired vehicles, fund and perform projects to mitigate excess ozone-creating nitrogen oxides emitted from the vehicles, and employ new internal procedures designed to prevent future emissions cheating, according to DOJ.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the penalty was the "largest civil penalty we have ever secured under the Clean Air Act, and the second largest environmental penalty ever secured."
“The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people’s health and safety," Garland said in a statement. "For example, in this case, our preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides."
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (may require registration), Stellantis referred a request to comment on the allegations to Cummins.
