California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board today announced that Cummins Inc., a manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines, paid $500,000 for failing to properly retest its engines already in use.

The California Air Pollution Control Fund, established to mitigate various sources of pollution through education and the advancement and use of cleaner technology, received $125,000, while the U.S. EPA collected an additional $375,000.

“Every ounce of pollution counts,” said ARB Enforcement Chief James Ryden.  “Our laws exist for good reasons.  All companies have to follow the rules and perform the required tests for the sake of our collective health.”

Cummins’ violations include:

• Not testing at least four engines in selected engine families;
• Completing tests after the deadline set in a 1998 settlement agreement for a previous air quality infraction;
• Reporting test results more than 30 days after test completion; and,
• Testing 10 vehicles at less than the maximum weight, as designated in the terms of a 1998 agreement.  

ARB determined that while Cummins satisfied the intent of the engine testing provisions, the company failed to ensure that all settlement provisions were met.

ARB, working with U.S. EPA, discovered this most recent offense during an investigation regarding Cummins’ delivery of approximately 570,000 diesel engines without exhaust aftertreatment devices between 1998 and 2006, a violation of the Clean Air Act.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40 other known cancer-causing compounds. In 1998, California identified diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to cause cancer, premature death and other health problems.