WASHINGTON — New legislation proposed in the Senate aims to annul sentences for mechanics found guilty of manipulating heavy-duty truck diesel equipment.
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The Diesel Truck Liberation Act, introduced by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., seeks to prevent federal mandates requiring manufacturers to install or maintain emissions control devices. It would also strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority to enforce pollution laws regarding vehicle emissions controls.
Credit: Office of Sen. Cynthia Lummis
Lummis stated that the bill was influenced by Wyoming resident Troy Lake, a diesel mechanic who received a one-year prison sentence last December for disabling emissions control systems on numerous heavy-duty trucks nationwide.
If approved, this bill would allow Lake to be released from prison and have his conviction wiped clean.
“The Biden EPA has imprisoned Troy Lake and other mechanics for maintaining school buses, fire trucks, and ambulances during harsh winter conditions,” Lummis remarked. “When Washington bureaucrats can criminalize actions without congressional approval, it signals a major issue. I want this overreach to end. This legislation marks the initial step towards justice and rationality.”
The proposed legislation outlines four main objectives:
1. Prevent the federal government from mandating manufacturers to install or maintain emissions control devices.
2. Remove the EPA’s authority to enforce Clean Air Act mandates concerning vehicle emissions controls.
3. Eliminate the legal capacity to prosecute or sue individuals for tampering with or enhancing emissions equipment.
4. Annul existing prison sentences for emissions-related offenses and erase related criminal and civil records.
Jonathan Achtemeier, sentenced earlier this year to four months in prison and fined $25,000 for modifying heavy-duty diesel truck engines to bypass federal pollution controls, would also benefit from the legislation if it becomes law.
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