VW federal settlement and state penalty

We are investing $141 million from the Volkswagen federal settlement and state penalty in projects that reduce emissions from transportation and improve air quality and people's health. Funds for this program resulted from  Volkswagen’s violations of the federal and state Clean Air acts.


Program history

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that automaker Volkswagen had illegally installed software to allow their vehicles to pass federal emissions standards during emissions tests. Under normal driving conditions, the vehicles emitted up to 40 times the permissible levels of harmful nitrogen oxides.

As a result of violating the federal Clean Air Act, Volkswagen settled with the federal government. This resulting in $112.7 million being made available to Washington state to mitigate the illegal emissions of the violating vehicles. In addition to violating the Federal Clean Air Act, the automaker violated the Washington Clean Air Act, resulting in an additional $28.4 million penalty paid to the state.

We are investing these funds in projects that accelerate widespread adoption of zero-emission transportation. Since 2019, we have invested nearly $100 million in projects to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality and public health across Washington.

Read more about the federal settlement and state penalty below: