Department of Natural Resources Named Lead Agency for Volkswagen Settlement

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been named the state’s lead agency to act as beneficiary to administer Missouri’s share of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, more than $41 million in settlement funds. In 2016, the United States settled complaints against Volkswagen. The settlement resolves claims that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by selling approximately 590,000 vehicles that have emissions defeat devices. VW penalty funds will be used to increase investments in zero emission vehicle deployments and projects that offset the NOx emissions that were produced by the substandard vehicles. According to the Department of Justice, the total expenditures by VW are estimated to be $17.7 billion in various categories.

To gather public input, DNR will be holding a series of public meetings. The first meeting will be October 30th in Jefferson City, Missouri. DNR also plans on holding meetings in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. To RSVP for the meetings click here, anyone can register.

 For more information on the VW Settlement click here.