California recently clamped down on emissions of small, off-road engines in things like lawn mowers and generators. As a result, Honda, which produces these small off-road engines alongside its range of planes, cars and robots, has been fined nearly $7 million by the state for breaching these rules.
California’s set of standards control the amount of fuel that is allowed to evaporate from the small engines found in things like lawn mowers, pressure washers and generators. According to the state, small engines in tools like lawn mowers can release as much CO2 as driving 300 miles if they are run for an hour.
In Honda’s case, its small engines failed testing to find out how much fuel would evaporate from the powered-off engines in a 24-hour period. This meant that during average day-to-night temperatures, more fuel evaporated from some of Honda’s small, off-road engines than is permitted in California.
The company’s small engines also failed certification procedures required by Californian lawmakers.
As a result, Honda and the The California Air Resources Board (CARB) have reached a settlement and the company has agreed to pay $6.9 million for violations of CARB’s air quality regulations.
This is the second enforcement action against Honda in the past two years, as it was previously required to pay $1.9 million for clean-air violations, also relating to its small off-road engines.
Honda’s latest payment to the state includes $3.9 million civil penalty that will go to CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund.
The remaining $3 million will fund several projects to improve air quality across California. This includes the installation of air filtration systems in Oakland schools and an air quality education program for students in the state