The final rule that would allow Navistar International Corp. to sell its emissions-noncompliant 2010 engines while paying fines has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget by the Environmental Protection Agency.
An EPA spokesperson declined to answer questions about what the agency is proposing in the rule, which was sent to OMB late last week.
“It’s still under internal interagency review,” the spokesperson said.
In an interim rule earlier this year, EPA said Navistar was to pay a non-compliance penalty while the firm continued to sell the engines that did not meet current U.S. emissions standards.
In June, however, a federal appeals court vacated the interim rule, saying that EPA’s rulemaking process violated federal law because it did not provide for comment or formal notice.
Mack Trucks Inc. and Volvo Group North America brought the lawsuit that saw the interim rule thrown out.
The transfer of the final rule from EPA to OMB is “very positive news” for Navistar, said company spokeswoman Karen Denning.
“The court has vacated the interim rule and we continue to build and ship trucks using a combination of credits and [non-conformance penalties] and that’s what the final rule’s expected to solidify, the use of NCPs going forward,” Denning said. “So, clearly, we’re encouraged by that.”
