BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ School buses in Louisiana will receive new engines that cut down on pollution as part of a settlement with Volkswagen.
Volkswagen Group agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.3 billion for attempting to defraud the U.S. government by rigging more than a half-million diesel-powered vehicles to give false emission ratings. The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/2jfcp4F) State Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Chuck Carr Brown says Louisiana will receive about $18 million of the fines and penalties.
The money must be used to lower nitrogen oxide emissions. Brown says he wants to replace the diesel engines with ones that use a cleaner-burning fuel.
Upgrading school buses has long been a push by federal authorities, and Brown says the VW money allows Louisiana a better opportunity to participate.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
AP-WF-01-13-17 1554GMT
