General Motors (GM) will pay a $146 million fine to the federal government after it was discovered that 5.9 million of its older vehicles do not meet emissions and fuel economy standards. The fine stems from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s finding that certain GM vehicles from the 2012 to 2018 model years failed to comply with federal fuel economy regulations.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), GM’s testing initially showed that its pickup trucks and SUVs emitted less carbon dioxide than they actually did. The EPA’s tests revealed that these vehicles released an average of 10% more carbon dioxide than GM’s original compliance figures suggested. As a result, the vehicles involved will remain on the road, though they cannot be repaired.
The affected models include popular GM vehicles such as the Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade, and Chevy Silverado, along with around 40 other variations. These vehicles, which include about 4.6 million full-size pickup trucks and SUVs and approximately 1.3 million midsize SUVs, will also lead GM to forfeit credits used to meet the greenhouse gas emissions standards for their model year.
GM has stated that it fully complied with regulations when certifying the pollution and mileage levels of its vehicles and does not admit to any wrongdoing or failure to meet the Clean Air Act. Despite the company’s position, the EPA’s enforcement action comes after they acknowledged that the violations were unintentional.
However, some environmental advocates have raised concerns about GM’s awareness of the issue. David Cooke, senior vehicle analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, questioned how GM could overlook the fact that pollution levels were consistently more than 10% higher than initially reported. “You don’t just make a more than 10 percent rounding error,” he noted.
Moreover, critics, including Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity, argued that the violations underscore the failure of automakers to self-regulate pollution and safeguard public health, calling for stricter pollution rules and greater accountability from companies like GM.
The timing of this case is notable, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently curtailed the EPA’s power by rejecting the Chevron doctrine, a legal principle that has long upheld federal regulations. With this change, the enforcement and oversight of pollution laws may now shift more significantly to the courts.
In similar past cases, automakers have faced legal action under the Clean Air Act, often involving the Department of Justice, such as in the cases against Hyundai and Kia. A Justice Department spokesman had no immediate comment regarding GM’s case.
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