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GM Will Recall Cadillacs, Pay Civil Penalty : Autos: 470,000 vehicles are affected by allegations of pollution-control tampering. Company admits no wrongdoing.

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

General Motors Corp. has agreed to recall almost half a million Cadillacs and pay an $11-million civil penalty to settle government charges that it tampered with pollution-control equipment on the vehicles, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The settlement, which officials described as “precedent-setting,” was the first to mandate auto recalls for violations of federal environmental rules, which were issued under the auspices of the Clean Air Act.

The consent decree, which follows two years of negotiations between the government and GM, is expected to affect 470,000 Cadillacs built between 1991 and 1995--including the Seville, DeVille, Eldorado and Fleetwood models--that were equipped with a 4.9-liter engine.

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It will not affect Cadillacs in the 1996 model year, which currently are in dealers’ showrooms. U.S. officials said that GM had replaced an offending computer chip and changed the engine sufficiently to eliminate any violations of federal rules.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, who announced the consent order, estimated that the settlement could cost GM $30 million to $45 million--including $11 million for the civil penalty and between $25 million and $30 million for refitting the cars that it recalls.

Additionally, GM agreed to set up a multimillion-dollar fund to help foster cleaner air through projects such as buying back old pollution-prone school buses and purchasing new ones that burn cleaner fuels--a program that could cost between $7.05 million and $8.75 million.

The government’s charges against GM allege that the company illegally altered the fuel-mixture system by installing a computer-chip in its Cadillacs to negate the impact of pollution-control equipment that was causing engines to stall.

As is customary in such cases, GM did not admit that it was guilty of the charges and Justice Department officials took pains to say that the company had been responsive in trying to work out a settlement.

GM said it disagreed with the government allegations.

“We strongly disagree with the allegations made today by the federal government,” Dennis Minano, vice president of corporate affairs, said in a prepared statement. “This is a matter of interpretation of current regulations regarding the complex issue of off-cycle emissions.”

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GM said it was “troubled” by the amount of the penalty it agreed to pay but settled because “we believe a nonadversarial, collaborative approach to environmental improvement is the way to achieve continued environmental progress.”

Under the consent agreement, GM is required to notify owners of the affected vehicles that it is prepared to make the prescribed changes at no cost to the owner.

Nevertheless, Carol M. Browner, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said that installation of the chip represented “an intentional effort to override appropriate emissions controls,” pumping 100,000 tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.

Browner said that even at limited levels, carbon monoxide gas can lead to headaches, impaired vision and increased risk for people with heart disease. In high concentrations, it is poisonous as well. “This is a serious violation,” she said in an interview.

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Reuters contributed to this report.

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