U.S. Sues eBay For Selling Defeat Devices And Violating Clean Air Act

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The U.S. Department of Justice has sued eBay for “unlawfully selling and distributing hundreds of thousands of products in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA).”

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and alleges the company “offered for sale or caused the sale of more than 343,000 aftermarket defeat devices, which defeat motor vehicle emission controls, a violation of the CAA.”

For anyone who slept through the dieselgate scandal, the government says defeat devices significantly increase emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and nonmethane hydrocarbons. These “harm public health” and “impede efforts” by state and local authorities to “plan for and attain air quality standards.”

The lawsuit is asking the court for “injunctive relief” to prevent eBay from engaging in further violations of the Clean Air Act. The government is also seeking civil penalties, which could presumably be worth millions.

More: Detroit Firms Fined $10 Million For Aftermarket Emissions Defeat Devices

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said, “eBay’s sale of emission control defeat devices, pesticides and other unsafe products poses unacceptable risks to our communities disproportionately impacted by environmental and health hazards. Together with our partners, this office will vigorously enforce federal law against those whose conduct endangers public health and the environment.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division who said, “Laws that prohibit selling products that can severely harm human health and the environment apply to e-commerce retailers like eBay just as they do to brick-and-mortar stores.”

Besides defeat devices, eBay is accused of selling unlawful pesticides and prohibited products containing a restricted chemical. In particular, the government alleges eBay has violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act by “unlawfully distributing or selling at least 23,000 unregistered, misbranded or restricted-use pesticide products, even in violation of a stop sale order EPA issued to eBay in 2020 and amended in 2021. Examples include a high toxicity insecticide banned in the United States, restricted use pesticides that only certified applicators may apply, and products fraudulently claiming to protect users against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out as eBay effectively acts as a middle man between sellers and buyers. Of course, if sellers are doing something illegal, it’s hard for the company to play dumb.

That being said, eBay responded to the allegations by issuing a statement saying “The government’s actions are entirely unprecedented and eBay intends to vigorously defend itself.” The company went on to say, “We dedicate significant resources, implement state-of-the-art technology, and ensure our teams are properly trained to prevent prohibited items from being listed on the marketplace. Indeed, eBay is blocking and removing more than 99.9% of the listings for the products cited by the DOJ, including millions of listings each year.”