On September 18, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. The NOV alleges that four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from model years 2009-2015 include software that circumvents EPA emissions standards for certain air pollutants. California is separately issuing an In-Use Compliance letter to Volkswagen, and EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have both initiated investigations based on Volkswagen’s alleged actions (Yosemite.epa.gov, ret. 10/13/15 @ 9:00am).
Volkswagen utilized a computer system that understated the actual amount of emissions being released from the vehicle while undergoing
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must be covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity. Motor vehicles equipped with defeat devices, which reduce the effectiveness of the emission control system during normal driving conditions, cannot be certified. By making and selling vehicles with defeat devices that allowed for higher levels of air emissions than were certified to EPA, Volkswagen violated two important provisions of the Clean Air Act. After EPA and CARB demanded an explanation for the identified emission problems, Volkswagen admitted that the cars contained defeat devices (Yosemite.epa.gov, ret. 10/13/15 @ …show more content…
Steve Berman, a plaintiffs’ lawyer in Seattle sated that, “We are going to launch a lawsuit on behalf of consumers against Volkswagen, and you are welcome to join,” Mr. Berman is an experienced lawyer, who has been involved in class-action lawsuits against carmakers, drug companies and the tobacco industry. Even Shareholders are suing the company, and regulators have said they plan to take action against it, but legal experts said Volkswagen’s biggest test would be the steps it takes to make its customers