BREAKING: United States EPA Criminal department drops all criminal investigations relating to emissions tampering under the clean air act (January 22, 2026)
In a Twitter post (I can't find) they stated they wanted to "avoid overcriminalization of federal environmental law"
Those of you who are new, the US Department of justice made a branch called Environment and Natural Resources Division that acts under the EPA. They had been pursuing business's of any size and even individuals suspected of tampering or defeating emissions systems on vehicles.
This is big news for my friends in the industry who, overnight, simply had their criminal cases dropped. They get to go home, or go back home to see their families without the fear of going to or back to federal prison.
This still means that
- the EPA can still financially ruin you, your family, and your friends
- its not magically legal to tamper/modify vehicle management or emissions systems
- the fines... sorry I mean penalties, won't be any more reasonable
- if the penalties grow large enough you could still face prison time
(BTW your culpability is rated on some imaginary scale which is not up for dispute...)
It hopefully means I'm being watched by one less agency now :)
EPA, DOJ Drop Criminal Vehicle Tampering Cases Under Clean Air Act | InsideEPA.com
EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are dropping all pending criminal Clean Air Act enforcement cases alleging unlawful vehicle emissions tampe...
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