EPA reaches settlement with importers of illegal off-road vehicles

As part of the settlement, the four Texas companies and Chinese manufacture will pay a total of $560,000 in civil penalties.    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with four Texas-based recreational vehicle importers and an affiliated Chinese vehicle manufacturer for the illegal import and sale of more than 4,000 uncertified off-road recreational vehicles.
   The vehicles were sold under the brand Hammerhead between 2007 and 2011.  
   As part of the settlement, the companies will pay a total of $560,000 in civil penalties.
   The four Texas companies party to this settlement include Geason Enterprises (which does business as Geason Powersports and Hammerhead), GE Ventures (which does business as Hammerhead Off-Road), Hammerhead Off-Road, and TJ Power Sports. The Chinese company party to this settlement is Shanghai Howhit Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd., which manufactured the vehicles.
   A second Chinese company, Shanghai Tong Jian Sports Equipment Co., Ltd., manufactured some of the uncertified vehicles and was sued by EPA in July 2013, but is no longer in business and is not party to this settlement, the agency said.
   The Clean Air Act requires all vehicles imported and sold in the United States to meet federal emission standards to control air pollution. Vehicle manufacturers must submit an application to the EPA that describes the engine or vehicle, its emission control system, and emissions data demonstrating compliance with emission standards.
   In the case of the Hammerhead recreational vehicles, some were missing emission control systems or equipped with non-conforming carburetors.
   EPA discovered the violations during inspections of imported vehicles at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Dallas, Chicago, and Hammerhead’s warehouse in Dallas.