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Latest VW Settlement Adds $225M to Mitigation Fund

The new funding, for projects to reduce NOx, is in addition to the $2.7 billion already required of Volkswagen for the environmental mitigation trust.

Thomas McMahon
Thomas McMahonExecutive Editor
December 21, 2016
Latest VW Settlement Adds $225M to Mitigation Fund

A new settlement in Volkswagen’s diesel emissions debacle requires the automaker to pay an additional $225 million to fund projects that will reduce NOx emissions.

2 min to read


A new settlement in Volkswagen’s diesel emissions debacle requires the automaker to pay an additional $225 million to fund projects that will reduce NOx emissions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Volkswagen will have to spend another $225 million to fund projects to cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) as part of a second partial settlement in its diesel emissions debacle.

In the latest settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice, and the state of California, Volkswagen agreed to buy back or fix 83,000 3.0-liter diesel vehicles that are allegedly equipped with “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests.

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This follows earlier settlements related to the German automaker’s 2.0-liter diesel vehicles.

The earlier settlements included a requirement for Volkswagen to fund a $2.7 billion environmental mitigation trust that will pay for projects to reduce NOx from other sources, including school buses, transit buses, large trucks, and freight trains.

Now, with the new 3.0-liter settlement, Volkswagen is required to pay an additional $225 million to fund projects across the U.S. that will reduce NOx emissions where the automaker’s 3.0-liter vehicles are operated. The EPA said that the funding will be placed in the same mitigation trust as that of the settlements for the 2.0-liter vehicles.

The mitigation trust will be administered by an independent trustee. Beneficiaries may include states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and Native American tribes. They can obtain funds for NOx reduction projects by applying to the trustee.

The EPA has said that the trust will likely become effective sometime during the first half of 2017.

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