Makita Settlement
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Makita Settles for SORE Violations - $21,500
Makita is a manufacturer of hand-held power tools. In August 2003, Makita reached a settlement with the Air Resources Board for $21,500 for delivering back pack blowers and other gasoline powered products equipped with non-California certified Fuji Robin engines to Makita dealers and Lowe's and Home Depot stores in California. The Fuji Robin engines were California certified through 1999 but became 49-State certified after the California Tier 2 standards came in effect in 2000. The non-compliant 2000 model units were inadvertently sold to consumers in California. Makita was able to recall some non-compliant units from dealer inventory. The case was complicated by the fact that the compliance status of the units in question depended on the date of manufacture (1999 vs. 2000). Therefore, only 68 of 491 units could be identified as non-compliant. Assumptions had to be made about the compliance status of the other units.