EPA Announces Sweeping Changes To Diesel Emissions Testing

In a noteworthy announcement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated its plans for sweeping changes to the way it tests for diesel emissions after getting duped by clandestine software in Volkswagen cars for seven years.

Following Volkswagen’s admission that it fitted as many as 11 million diesel cars worldwide with software that rigged pollution tests, regulators are adding more spot-checks to cars already on the road as part of the toughening of U.S. environmental protection.

“We are upping our game,” said Christopher Grundler, director of the U.S. EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

Currently, the U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation of Volkswagen, and the company says it is cooperating with regulators. However, the admission has marred the reputation of the world’s largest automaker, subsequently sending its shares to the lowest level in years. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned this week, with the expectation for Volkswagen’s board to name a successor soon.

The EPA is sending a letter to automakers to inform them that emissions monitoring is being enhanced, although Grundler wouldn’t say what changes the agency will make to audit the lab results carmakers submit to regulators.

“They don’t need to know,” said Grundler, referring to automakers. “They only need to know that we will be keeping their cars a little bit longer, and we’re going to be driving them more.”

VW’s sophisticated software allowed its cars to pass tests in the labs even though they were emitting illegal levels of pollution into the atmosphere while on the highway. The EPA’s changes are intended to detect software and other methods that automakers might use to rig tests.

“We’re actually making sure that this is a one-off,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy of VW’s admission. She explained that the agency is going to “look at all of the other models aggressively and do the testing we need to make sure there aren’t any hidden software devices or other ways they could defeat the emission system.”

The revelation about VW’s deception led to unwanted scrutiny for the EPA, with criticisms that its testing procedures are predictable and outdated, thereby making it relatively easy for VW to cheat. Initially, the EPA did not uncover the problem, and instead it was found by researchers at West Virginia University who used on-road testing that the EPA did not.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said that he’s frustrated that regulatory agencies such as the EPA are failing to effectively protect the public. “Seven years is way too long a time that the EPA has been asleep at the switch,” he said.

Nelson compared the VW case to the fairly recent issue with General Motors’ defective ignition switches and Takata Corp.’s exploding air bag inflators, where it also took years for those problems to be disclosed to consumers.

“When there is this kind of deception, we’ve got to get these agencies to be able to cut through it and catch it,” said Nelson.

While some people are suggesting that the EPA would never have discovered VW’s deception without outside help, Grundler disputes this notion.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that this would never have been uncovered,” he said. “Do I wish we had uncovered it sooner? Absolutely.”