The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that JB Automotive, located in Iowa, has reached a settlement with the agency regarding the alleged sale of devices designed to defeat required emissions controls on vehicles.
JB Automotive is one of three additional firms that are part of a settlement involving Premier Performance of Rexburg, Idaho. Premier Performance has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty under the Clean Air Act (CAA) for illegally selling emissions-control “defeat” devices to businesses and individuals throughout the U.S.
EPA alleges that from approximately January 2017 to February 2019, Premier Performance and three of its related companies – JB Automotive in Iowa,
RallySportDirect in Utah, and Stage 3 Motorsports in Arizona – manufactured or sold at least 64,299 parts or components that bypass, defeat or render inoperative the manufacturers’ technology and design necessary to reduce vehicle emissions to meet state and federal CAA standards.
“These companies sold tens of thousands of aftermarket defeat devices, and as a result, tens of thousands of trucks now operate without the filters, catalysts, and other emissions controls that help keep our air clean,” said Ed Kowalski, director of EPA Region 10’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “These settlements will prevent future violations by requiring the companies to ensure that the products they sell do not adversely affect emissions.” Region 10 includes Idaho.
In an agreement reached in February 2021, the companies agreed to stop manufacturing and selling all products that violate the CAA, and advised EPA that they have implemented work practice standards and procedural safeguards to prevent the future sale of defeat devices.
The parts were designed and marketed for use on makes and models of diesel pickup trucks and engines manufactured by Cummins Inc., FCA US LLC, General Motors Company and Ford Motor Company.
Published in the April 2021 Edition