This case addresses violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) by Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, which manufactures heavy-duty diesel engines, among other products. Caterpillar, Inc. will pay a civil penalty of $2.55 million to resolve claims that the company shipped and sold more than 590,000 highway and non-road diesel engines without the correct emissions controls and also failed to comply with emission control reporting and engine-labeling requirements.
Caterpillar violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) in shipping over 590,000 engines to OEMs without exhaust after-treatment devices (ATDs) and incorrect fuel injector and fuel map settings. ATDs are devices that control engine exhaust emissions once the emissions have exited the engine and entered the exhaust system. Typical ATDs include catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters. The fuel injector and fuel map settings meter the amount of fuel delivered into the engine.
Under the settlement, Caterpillar will recall these known defective engines and install the correct ATDs and reprogram the fuel injector and fuel map settings. This recall will continue until all engines with incorrect catalysts, fuel injectors or fuel map settlings have been addressed or until December 31, 2011, whichever is earlier.
In addition to the recall, and regardless of its success, Caterpillar will mitigate excess emissions through permanent retirement of banked emission credits. Within 30