US court leaves $62mn Volvo penalty in place

OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2015. The US Supreme Court today declined to hear automaker Volvo's appeal of a \\$62mn penalty for making heavy-duty diesel engines that did not meet federal emissions requirements.

The court without explanation denied a petition for review filed by the company's Volvo Powertrain subsidiary, which manufactures heavy-duty trucks and engines.

Volvo sought to overturn part of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision last year upholding a \\$72mn fine against the company for manufacturing about 8,300 engines in violation of a settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board. The settlement, which resolved allegations Volvo and six other companies added illegal devices to their engines to meet 1998 emissions standards, required certain engines made by the companies to meet 2006 NOX standards a year early.

Volvo Powertrain wanted the Supreme Court to review \\$62mn of the penalty covering about 7,300 engines it says were not sold in the US. But because the company sought EPA certification for the engines, it violated the agreement, the US said. The DC Circuit and a district court that originally upheld the fine, said the settlement was broadly worded to apply to engines produced at any facility "owned or operated" by Volvo.