While European lawmakers endorsed the toughening of vehicle emissions testing, across the Atlantic ocean, Trump is slashing the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) vehicle testing budget instead. Reuters report that the slash can be up to 99%.
According to the report, the budget cuts mean that the EPA would have less manpower in the department which conducts the testing of vehicle, engines and fuel to verify that the emissions standards are met. The amount proposed for the cuts amount to around $48million, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.
The cut to the vehicle emission testing would mean the lab would have to be shut down. The Trump administration proposed that to fund the current operational costs, that engine manufacturers and car manufacturers pay a fee for testing.
A 31 percent cut in the EPA’s budget has been proposed by Trump’s administration team and is eliminating more than 50 programs within the EPA.
This plays a very important factor because it was the EPA vehicle testing team which brought about the admission by Volkswagen of the dieselgate scandal in 2015. As a result of that, Volkswagen agreed to pay up to $25 billion in penalties and car buyback costs. They also plead guilty to felony charges.
