#Epa

CFMOTO has agreed to pay a penalty of $725,000 courtesy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

CFMoto Powersports, Inc., based in Plymouth, Minn., Zhejiang CFMOTO Power Co., Ltd., and Chunfeng Holding Group Co., Ltd., both based in China, will jointly pay the penalty.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has come down hard on one importer, withdrawing approval of the import and sale of up to 74,000 gas-powered ATVs and motorcycles. The EPA believes it received either incomplete or falsified certification information.

Snyder Technology, Inc. and Snyder Computer Systems, Inc. (doing business as Wildfire Motors Corporation) is the importer in question. The EPA issued the vehicle certificates from 2006 to 2012 and after a lengthy investigation the agency believes that the applications for the certificates contained misleading information and must be voided.

All vehicles imported into or manufactured in the United States are required to have certificates of conformity. Manufacturers or importers must submit an application to EPA that describes the vehicle and its emission control system. It must also provide emissions data demonstrating that the vehicle will meet federal emission standards for certain pollutants.

American Suzuki has agreed to a number of sanctions including an $885,000 penalty for importing ATVs and off-road motorcycles that do not meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s emission control standards.

The EPA and Suzuki negotiated the monetary penalty as well as other sanctions for the 25,396 units of the 2006-2009 LT-R450 ATV and the 62 units of the 2010 RMX450Z. While the models in question were tested and certified by the EPA, the testing was done on the electronic engine control module’s standard map.

What Suzuki did not disclose in the certification process was the RMX450Z and LT-R450 also had a racing map that would push emissions outside the accepted control standards. These racing map were only accessible from a third-party aftermarket product known as the “Cherry Bomb“, but because the map was pre-programmed into the stock machine, Suzuki was required to disclose the ability to adjust the air-fuel mixture through engine mapping when filing for the certificate of conformity. We actually tested out the Yoshimura Cherry Bomb on a 2009 LT-R450 (along with other Yoshimura products), which you can read about here.

In addition to the $885,000 fine, Suzuki agreed to a three emissions mitigation projects that would reduce the emission of over 210 tons of hydrocarbons.