Indiana Auto Parts Distributor to Pay $7.4M for Selling Emissions Defeat Devices for Cars and Trucks

Indiana Auto Parts Distributor to Pay $7.4M for Selling Emissions Defeat Devices for Cars and Trucks

Company agrees to $1.2M project for a new tugboat with updated emission controls to reduce the release of harmful air pollutants in the Gulf Coast region

January 13, 2025

WASHINGTON-Today, Jan. 13, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement agreement with Meyer Distributing, Inc., an Indiana automotive parts distributor, for violating the Clean Air Act emission controls requirements. The Department of Justice, on behalf of EPA, filed the settlement agreement with the court Jan. 6.

Under the consent decree, Meyer Distributing agrees to pay $7.4 million in civil penalties for selling aftermarket devices designed to defeat the emissions control systems on cars and trucks. Defeating emission controls causes the release of excess carcinogenic diesel exhaust containing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.

"Meyer sold tens of thousands of illegal devices that undermine the public health protections provided for in the Clean Air Act," said Acting Assistant Administrator Cecil Rodrigues for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Today's announcement demonstrates EPA's commitment to hold companies like Meyer accountable for the harm they cause to our air and health."

The complaint against Meyer Distributing alleges that from Jan. 1, 2018, to Sept. 16, 2020, the company sold more than 90,000 aftermarket defeat devices throughout the United States. These products included parts such as plates that block a vehicle's exhaust gas recirculation system and fitted pipes that replace pollution treatment components in a vehicle's exhaust system. The largest share of these aftermarket defeat devices was sold in Texas.

Disabling or removing emission controls on a diesel truck causes its emissions - including NOx, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and non-methane hydrocarbons - to increase significantly. Diesel exhaust is an air toxic because it poses cancer and noncancer health risks. In the civil complaint, EPA estimates that excess pollution caused by installation of the products Meyer Distributing sold is equivalent to adding 700,000 vehicles to the nation's roads.

Meyer Distributing will also spend $1.2 million on a project to retire and replace a 1976 tugboat with a new, cleaner tugboat to service ships across the Gulf Coast region, including the coast of Texas. The old tugboat's two outdated diesel engines lacked modern emission controls to reduce the emissions of NOx and particulate matter. The new tugboat has two up-to-date engines with modern emission control systems that will prevent the release of an estimated 1,484 tons of NOx and 19 tons of particulate matter emissions over 20 years.

The consent decree, lodged by the Justice Department in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comments and access to the settlement agreement is available on the Justice Department's Proposed Consent Decree webpage.

More information is available on the Meyer Distributing Clean Air Act Settlement Summary.