More details are emerging about what will be required of Cummins Inc. as part of an investigation into the use of emissions defeat devices on RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 engines.

Cummins Inc. is being required by the U.S. Department of Justice to recall 600,000 RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 pickup trucks equipped with Cummins diesel engines as part of a December agreement that includes a $1.675 billion civil penalty after the federal government alleged Cummins used software defeat devices that circumvented emissions testing and certifications requirements.

Under the settlement, Cummins must complete a nationwide vehicle recall to repair and replace the engine control software in more than 600,000 RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 pickup trucks equipped with the company’s diesel engines.

Cummins will also extend the warranty period for certain parts in the repaired vehicles, pay for and perform projects to mitigate excess ozone-creating nitrogen oxides emitted from the vehicles and employ new internal procedures designed to prevent future emissions cheating. In total, the settlement is valued at more than $2 billion.

“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing environmental laws that protect the American people from harmful pollutants,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people’s health and safety. This historic agreement makes clear that the Justice Department will be aggressive in its efforts to hold accountable those who seek to profit at the expense of people’s health and safety.”

As in prior cases against other manufacturers, EPA discovered defeat devices in Cummins engines used in RAM pickup trucks through testing at the agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory. That testing of RAM trucks was done as follow-up on a 2015 EPA warning to manufacturers that the agency planned to conduct special testing to identify defeat devices using driving cycles and conditions that were non-standard, but still reflected normal vehicle operation and use.

Cummins has denied any intentional wrongdoing and had been preparing for a fine since at least the second quarter of the 2023 fiscal year. Company officials announced in late December that Cummins had finalized the deal. Cummins expects to record a charge of $2.04 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 to resolve the issues, which involved a million pick-up truck engines in the United States. Company officials said $1.93 billion of the payments will be made in the first half of 2024.

“The company has cooperated fully with the relevant regulators, already addressed many of the issues involved, and looks forward to obtaining certainty as it concludes this lengthy matter,” the company stated in a news release. “Cummins conducted an extensive internal review and worked collaboratively with the regulators for more than four years. The company has seen no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith and does not admit wrongdoing.”

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Cummins officials said in 2023 both that a fine was expected and that the company was developing a new software calibration for the RAM 2500 and 3500 engines for 2013 through 2018 as part of an expected recall. While company officials had said there was no sign if intentional wrongdoing, the consent decrees filed with the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia allege nearly a million model year 2013-2023 RAM 2500 and RAM 3500 pickup trucks with Cummins diesel engines utilized undisclosed engine control software features, and more than 630,000 of those trucks made in model years 2013-2019 had illegal emissions control software defeat device features. The software defeat devices helped the trucks pass standard EPA emissions tests, but artificially reduced the effectiveness of the emission controls — and increased NOx emissions — during normal driving outside of the standard test conditions.

The settlement requires Cummins to work with Fiat Chrysler and its dealers on a vehicle recall and repair program that will remove all defeat devices from the affected 2013-2019 RAM trucks free of charge and bring the vehicles into compliance with applicable emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. The repair only involves software updates. Cummins has already started the recall and repair program required by the settlement.

Cummins must repair at least 85% of the 2013-2019 RAM trucks equipped with defeat devices within three years. The company must offer a special extended warranty covering emission control system parts on 2013-2019 RAM trucks that receive the replacement software. Cummins also must test some of the repaired trucks over a number of years to ensure that the trucks continue to meet emissions standards over time.

As another requirement of the settlement, Cummins must fully offset the excess NOx emissions from the 2013-2019 RAM trucks that were equipped with defeat devices. For California, Cummins will make a lump sum payment to CARB of slightly more than $175 million to fund mitigation actions or projects that reduce NOx emissions in California through CARB mitigation programs. For the rest of the country, Cummins will secure offsetting NOx reductions by working with railroad locomotive owners on two types of locomotive emission reduction projects. First, Cummins will finance and ensure the replacement of 27 old, high-emitting diesel locomotive engines with new, low-emitting diesel or electric engines. Second, Cummins will fund and complete 50 projects that will reduce idling time for diesel-powered switch locomotives to reduce fuel usage and emissions of NOx, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide.

According to the Associated Press, Wednesday’s details come seven years after German automaker Volkswagen agreed to plead guilty to criminal felony counts following investigations into its use of similar defeat devices, a massive emissions scandal known as Dieselgate.

The company installed software in certain model year 2009-2015 diesel vehicles across its brands, circumventing emissions standards and emitting up to 40 times more pollution than those standards allow. Volkswagen said 11 million vehicles across the globe were equipped with the pollution controls.

In 2017, the automaker agreed to pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty in addition to $1.5 billion in separate civil resolutions.

Fiat Chrysler saw similar consequences in 2019 for failing to disclose defeat devices used to make vehicle emission control systems function differently during emission testing. More than 100,000 EcoDiesel Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles were sold in the U.S. with the unauthorized software.

The automaker agreed to pay a $305 million civil penalty to settle the claims of cheating emission tests in 2019.

In 2020, Daimler, the auto parent of Mercedes-Benz, agreed to a $857 million civil penalty as a result of its disclosure failures and claims over its violations of the Clean Air Act.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.