Yahoo Autos EPA Hits Two More Diesel Tuners With $10 Million Fine For Defeat Devices
Two Michigan-based diesel tuning companies have just been hit with $10 million worth of civil penalties for their role in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of diesel emissions defeat devices.
According to a report from The Oakland Press, Diesel Ops LLC and Orion Diesel LLC were found to be in violation of the Clean Air Act for their involvement with said diesel emissions defeat devices on August 29th, related to violations first discovered in December 2021. Online court documents show that the EPA first reached out to Diesel Ops about its non-compliance back in 2013, highlighting the extent of the companies’ misbehavior. Both companies are owned by one Nicholas Piccolo, who also faces a $455,925 civil penalty for his failure to respond to the EPA’s initial information requests related to the businesses. In fact, court documents uploaded by the EPA even claim that Diesel Ops specifically engaged in an online “fire sale” after receiving the request from the EPA in order to liquidate their stock. The shop would also often sell packages that included both the necessary hardware to remove an emissions system, as well as a software tune that would allow the trucks to make use of that free-breathing set-up.
An additional judgment of just under $1 million was also entered against the shop owner relating to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act and alleged fraudulent transfers. Piccolo and his associates allegedly began to move assets out of the businesses once the EPA began to insist on compliance, while continuing to ignore the EPA’s information requests. In order to prevent any further harm or illegal behavior, the judge in this case also issues a permanent injunction against Piccolo and both of his companies, which prevents any future sales of defeat devices without another wave of major penalties. Of course a single $10 million fine should be enough of a deterrent to prevent any further action.
The EPA has continued to ramp up its legal efforts against the diesel tuning community as of late, thanks to the fact that vehicle emissions defeat devices are currently one of the agency’s six National Compliance Initiatives. These programs receive the most amount of attention from the EPA’s enforcement arm, with the current NCI’s slated to run until 2023. This year we’ve already seen Flo-Pro face a $1.6 million fine for its role in selling these delete devices. Spartan Diesel Technologies founder Matthew Sidney Geouge was also hit with some major penalties this year, including having to pay $1.2 million in fines to the EPA, $1.2 million in fines for the IRS, and being sentenced to one year and one day in prison on conspiracy-related charges. Shops across the country should continue to take note of these developments, as well as make an effort to respond to the EPA if they do come knocking. If you don’t, things aren’t going to play out how you’d like.
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