— The states of New Hampshire and Montana will see more money from Volkswagen related to its emissions cheating that added more pollution to the atmosphere. However, neither state got anywhere near as much as they wanted.
New Hampshire says it reached an agreement with VW for installing emissions defeat devices in diesel vehicles that caused excess nitrogen oxide emissions in the state.
The state alleges Volkswagen violated the Air Pollution Control Act by causing certain diesel vehicles to emit nitrogen oxides 30 times more than the legal limit.
According to the settlement, VW will pay the state $1.15 million, and the automaker is required to install one additional direct-current fast charging station in New Hampshire. This is in addition to the five charging stations VW had already installed or planned to install.
Volkswagen had already paid about $204 million to the state, but New Hampshire officials say this is the first time "a state that has not adopted California’s air emissions standards has received settlement money under state air pollution laws related to a 'defeat device' installed by a manufacturer."
Volkswagen / Montana Emissions Settlement
In Montana, the Department of Environmental Quality reached a settlement with Volkswagen for penalties related to emissions defeat devices alegedly installed on 2009-2016 VW Jetta, Audi A3 and Porsche Cayenne diesel vehicles.
Volkswagen has agreed to pay the state a total of $357,280, or $280 per car for the 1,276 cars that were sold in Montana and that received emissions software updates.
Montana says VW sent software upgrades that dealerships downloaded to the vehicles during maintenance.
Those updates allegedly made the defeat devices worse by detecting when the steering wheel of a car moved, indicating it was being used on the road rather than being tested. Once on the road the emissions controls were allegedly turned off, emitting illegal levels of nitrogen oxides.
