The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether Navistar Inc. completed assembly of 7,600 heavy-duty 2009 model truck engines in 2010, thereby making them noncompliant with current emission regulations.
EPA said in a “notice of violation” letter to Navistar that fines could run as high as $37,500 per violation, if any are found. The letter did not specify whether every improper engine found would count as an individual violation. If so, the company’s financial exposure could be as much as $285 million.
In EPA’s letter, Phillip Brooks, air enforcement division director, wrote that the agency believes that Navistar violated provisions of the federal Clean Air Act prohibiting manufacturers from “selling, offering for sale, or introducing or delivering for introduction into commerce” any new motor vehicle or engine unless it is certified as meeting emissions standards for the year it was made.
Navistar said earlier this month its 13-liter engine would meet EPA emissions standards.
EPA said Navistar’s own data, requested by the agency in November, led it to conclude the engine maker completed the assembly of the 7,600 heavy-duty engines during 2010, yet claimed the engines were 2009 models.
“Engines produced after Dec. 31 of the calendar year for which the model year is named are not covered by the certificate of conformity for that model year,” Brooks wrote.
Navistar, Lisle, Ill., sold 35,928 trucks in the United States last year and had a 21% share of the U.S. heavy truck market.
