Maryland reaches $33.5 million settlement with Volkswagen

Maryland has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Volkswagen AG and two of its affiliates for using devices in cars that violated the state’s environmental laws.

The $33.5 million settlement announced Wednesday includes a $29 million civil penalty. Under the arrangement, Volkswagen also agrees to introduce additional battery electric vehicles in the state.

The “defeat devices” installed in vehicles enabled them to pass emissions tests. But under actual driving conditions, vehicles with the devices installed emitted up to 40 times the allowable limit of nitrogen oxide.

Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles says the settlement is a “silver lining” of the Volkswagen scandal.

The state filed the lawsuit against Volkswagen in July 2016.