High Court Won't Hear Volvo Subsidiary's Appeal of $72 Million EPA Fine

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 declined to hear an appeal brought by a Volvo Group subsidiary over a $72 million fine issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Without comment, the high court let stand district and appellate court rulings against the Volvo subsidiary, Volvo Powertrain Inc., which manufactured more than 7,000 Penta nonroad engines in 2005 that were not manufactured in, nor imported into, the United States.

The lower courts had ruled against Volvo on the theory that the provisions of a 1990 consent decree with EPA still applied since the government found the company had used “defeat devices” to limit emissions in the engines.

The lower courts had ordered Volvo Powertrain to pay the $72 million penalty, which will now likely stand in light of the high court’s decision to not hear the case.