March 17, 2016—Volkswagen is in talks with U.S. authorities to establish two remediation funds, one national and a separate one for California, as punishment for cheating on diesel emissions tests, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The first fund would be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency to use to promote clean transportation throughout the U.S. while the second fund would be used by California to promote zero-emissions vehicles in the state, according to people close to the matter who declined to be named because the private negotiations are still in flux.
The deal could help settle the U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit against VW allowing the automaker to move on after the scandal affecting 11 million vehicles worldwide. In California, VW has until March 24 to present a solution for nearly 600,000 affected U.S. cars.
“As of today, we do not believe any of the three generations of vehicle technologies for the 2-liter vehicles can be repaired to meet their certified emissions levels,” said Todd Sax, chief of the California board’s enforcement division, last week at a state Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing.
