Volkswagen will pay an additional US$86m in penalties to California over its emissions scandal, on top of a settlement of $14.7 billion the automaker reached with US officials earlier, state attorney general Kamala Harris said.
According to Reuters, the office of Harris, a Democrat, said the $86m in civil penalties resolved certain claims California officials made against Volkswagen under the state’s unfair competition law as well as under federal law.
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“We must conserve and protect our environment for future generations and deliver swift and certain consequences to those who break the law and pollute our air,” said Harris.
The latest settlement between officials for Volkswagen and California, the nation’s most populous state, provides for $76m to be paid to Harris’ office to defray costs relating to investigation and litigation of the emissions scandal, according to court documents.
The other $10m will be dedicated to grants for government agencies and universities, to be used in part to study technology that can help detect so-called defeat devices which on Volkswagen cars produced false results during diesel emissions tests, Harris’ office said.
Reuters noted the VW had previously said it would pay $603m to resolve litigation with most US states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, on top of the $14.7bn federal settlement.
