Volkswagen was denied a rehearing by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its emissions suit, meaning the decision to allow two counties to seek potentially billions in penalties from the carmaker, stands. The court decided that VW was in violation of laws that prohibit tampering with emission-control systems.
The German company is now planning to appeal this ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, should that fail, Florida’s Hillsborough and Utah’s Salt Lake counties could seek additional penalties from VW over its diesel emissions scandal.
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The ruling would also allow all 50 states and thousands of local governments to regulate emissions software updates and other modifications after a vehicle is sold – this could affect the EPA’s ability to exclusively regulate a carmaker’s emissions compliance, reports Autonews Europe.
A spokesperson for VW said this in a statement yesterday: “Volkswagen continues to believe that counties’ claims are preempted by federal law. The 9th Circuit’s position conflicts with the rulings of multiple courts, and we intend to seek review by the Supreme Court.”
“If not corrected, the 9th Circuit’s ruling will severely compromise the EPA’s ability to regulate vehicle emissions nationwide by granting thousands of state and local governments the same power,” argued the spokesperson. “This state and local regulation will adversely impact the auto industry’s ability to make critical post-sale updates and result in the regulatory chaos Congress sought to avoid in enacting the Clean Air Act.”
While VW already settled its U.S. criminal and civil actions to the tune of more than $20 billion, they did not obtain liability protection from state and local governments.
