Justice officials give Harley-Davidson $3 million discount on Obama-era fine
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday it had dropped a requirement that Harley-Davidson spend $3 million to fight air pollution as part of a settlement reached with the O ba ma administration.
The Milwaukee-based company will remain responsible for $12 million in fines for selling illegal “Screaming Eagle” motorcycle tuners. But it will no longer be compelled to pay $3 million to an American Lung Association project promoting cleanerburning cook stoves, according to the notice from the justice department.
“Certain new developments led the United States and the defendant to agree to revise the consent decree in this manner,” the announcement said. “The original consent decree would have required defendants to pay a non-governmental third-party organization to carry out the mitigation project. Questionsexist as to whether this mitigation project is consistent with the new policy .” It was the first time the Justice Department had put into place a new Trump administration policy overturning Obama-era penalties meant at offering redress, such as funding an anti-pollution initiative.
The settlement with Harley-Davidson dates from August 2016 and involves the manufacture and sale of around 340,000 illegal motorcycle tuners.
The devices generate a higher amount of air pollutants. Also. the company had produced and commercialized over 12,000 motorcycles without certification from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Under the agreement with the EPA, Harley-Davidson agreed to halt the selling of the engine “super tuners,” buy them back and destroy them, as well as cover a penalty for violating air pollution laws and “sell only models of these devices that are certified to meet Clean Air Act emissions standards,” a statement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said at the time.