Honda Excess Emissions Lawn Equipment California Settlement Overview:
- Who: American Honda Motor Co. has made an agreement with the California Air Resources Board.
- Why: The $6.9 million deal will end claims that engines in certain Honda lawn equipment exceed emissions limits in the state.
- Where: The lawsuit was settled in California.
Honda has agreed to fork out $6.9 million to end claims that it made lawn equipment engines that released excessive amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere in California.
On Dec. 6, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued an announcement that American Honda Motor Co. had agreed to settle, after being accused of making engines that released too many emissions under the state’s clean air laws.
About $3.9 million of the settlement will be paid as a civil penalty to the California Air Pollution Control Fund.
The remaining $3 million will go to supporting environmental projects including improving air quality for some California schools and funding air quality education programs.
Honda Amassed Nearly 150,000 Air Quality Regulation Violations Due to The Engines
In 2019, CARB found that excess gas vapors were being released from certain Honda off-road engine products’ gas tanks when the product wasn’t being used.
CARB sets a level of evaporation allowed from engines that are not being used, like those in lawn and garden equipment such as mowers and pressure washers. Some Honda products exceeded that level, the board said.
According to the settlement agreement, CARB said Honda amassed 149,644 violations of air quality regulations through these static engines and other forms of emissions.
“The scope of this violation and impact to California’s air pollution challenge is significant — more than 150,000 small off-road engines used without proper certification that also failed to meet California’s evaporative emissions standards,” CARB Executive Officer Richard W. Corey said in a statement.
Honda admitted that some of its engines didn’t meet the evaporative emissions levels they were supposed to, as part of the deal. But it continues to deny “any liability resulting from said allegations.”
The agreement comes less than two years after Honda agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve similar claims made by CARB.
Meanwhile, Honda is facing a class action lawsuit alleging it sold more than two million cars in the United States with a defect that can cause them to stop while being driven, stall, or not turn on.
What do you think of the settlement between Honda and the state of California? Let us know in the comments
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
