CHICAGO (March 18, 2016) — Volkswagen Group is in talks with U.S. authorities to establish a national remediation fund and a separate one for California as punishment for pollution from its cars after the auto maker cheated on diesel-emissions tests, said persons familiar with the matter.
One fund would be administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and used to promote clean transportation throughout the U.S. The other would be run by California to promote zero-emission vehicles in the state, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Negotiations are continuing and many details are still being determined, they said. A deal would help settle a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit and clear a key obstacle as the German auto maker tries to emerge from a scandal affecting 11 million of its vehicles worldwide.
Volkswagen, which faces billions of dollars in regulatory fines and legal compensation, has a March 24 court deadline in California to present a solution for nearly 600,000 U.S. cars whose diesel engines were rigged to pass emissions tests while polluting more than allowed. Representatives for VW, the EPA, the Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) declined to comment on the details of the negotiations.