Three El Monte auto part distributors have reached settlements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for selling or manufacturing “defeat devices,” which allow users to bypass emissions regulations.
The companies — Domestic Gaskets, Mizumo Auto, and Performance Parts — paid a total of $28,271 in combined penalties for more than 3,000 cited violations of selling or distributing the devices, which disable emissions-control systems.
Each is listed under the same address on Temple City Boulevard.
“These settlements represent our commitment to stopping the sale of illegal defeat devices, which worsen harmful pollution and disproportionately impact communities with environmental justice concerns,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in the announcement. “We will continue to investigate and penalize anyone who manufactures, sells, or installs these types of illegal products.”
The Clean Air Act prohibits the manufacturing, sale, or installation of a part for a motor vehicle that bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative any emission control device. Defeat devices are often sold to enhance engine performance by disabling a vehicle’s emission controls, such as installing computer software that will alter diesel fuel injection timing, thus causing air pollution.
“The practice of tampering with vehicles by installing defeat devices can enable large emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, both of which contribute to serious health problems in the United States,” the EPA announcement warned. “These include premature mortality, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravation of existing asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function. Respiratory issues like these disproportionately affect families, especially children, living in underserved communities overburdened by pollution.”
A fourth business — PPE Inc., previously headquartered in Montclair but now in Las Vegas, NV — was also cited for 121 violations and will pay a $24,000 settlement.
