Tuesday, October 30: Yesterday, Sierra Club and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment fought back against an unlawful sweetheart deal between Trump's Department of Justice and Derive Systems' family of companies, a group that is responsible for the sale of hundreds of thousands of illegal "defeat devices" for gas and diesel vehicles. These devices allow for the release of toxic vehicle emissions at illegal levels, and do serious harm to public health and our environment. In spite of those harms, DOJ has proposed a settlement that is more focused on keeping these companies in business than on protecting our air through proper enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Here are just a few of the rotten terms: The offending companies are asked to pay a mere 0.02% of the penalty available under the Clean Air Act. The settlement would allow the sale of the illegal devices to continue across 49 states for another two years if not longer. None of the illegal devices are required to be removed or their air pollution impacts mitigated. In comments urging DOJ to reject and improve this settlement, Sierra Club and UPHE made the clear case that the settlement violates the Clean Air Act and EPA's own guidance, not to mention that it is entirely inadequate to protect public health. We will continue to oppose this settlement as the case moves forward. The Sierra Club was represented by attorney Reed Zars in the matter, with assistance from Environmental Law Program attorney Joe Halso.