Six companies will have to a pay a civil penalty in the US totalling $1.25 million for violating the Clean Air Act.
The companies were charged with importing and selling more than 11,000 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that did not conform to the specifications that the companies had certified to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or lacked the necessary certification.
The agency’s environmental appeals board has ruled that two Texas-based companies, Jonway Motorcycle and Shenke, imported 11,043 non-compliant highway motorcycles and 226 ATVs beginning in model year 2009. It also found that the companies illegally imported and distributed more than 80 models of uncertified vehicles. Four Chinese companies linked to the US firms made the vehicles.
The Act requires vehicle manufacturers to certify to the EPA that their products meet federal emission standards to control air pollution, and every vehicle sold in the US must be covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity. Tests by agency officials found that vehicles did not conform with their certificates. The EPA also discovered evidence of recordkeeping violations related to emissions testing and certification.
