Smoky Stoves Aren't Harley's Problem Now, Thanks to Sessions

  • Justice Department knocks $3 million from pollution penalty
  • Motorcycle maker first to benefit from new settlement policy
Photographer: Getty Images
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A curious marriage between Harley-Davidson Inc. and the American Lung Association is over before it even began -- the latest twist in a tale of motorcycle fumes, wood smoke and shifting winds of American justice.

Harley-Davidson has for the past year faced the prospect of paying $3 million to help fund a Lung Association initiative to replace conventional wood stoves with cleaner-burning ones. The obligation was part of a $15 million emissions-rigging settlement the motorcycle maker reached last August with the Obama administration’s Justice Department. On Thursday, the department reached back into the pending settlement and removed the wood-stove penalty.