Source: VW, gov't ink deal to pay owners of cheating diesels

DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen, the U.S. government and private lawyers have reached a deal for the automaker to spend just over $1 billion to compensate owners of about 600,000 diesel-powered cars that cheat on emissions tests, including buyback offers to some owners, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The "deal in principle" includes a maximum amount of spending, but the final details, like how much each owner would get, are still being worked out, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn't been made public.

Some owners would get a choice of having VW repair their cars or buy them back, but that would vary by model year and engine type, the person said.

The cars can spew out harmful nitrogen oxide at 40 times the allowable limit, the person said.

The company faces as much as $20 billion in fines for Clean Air Act violations alone, before paying to fix the cars or compensate their owners.

California Air Resources Board enforcement chief Todd Sax said last month he doesn't think it's technically feasible to repair any of VW's 2-liter diesel engines, under the hoods of most of the models at issue, to meet that state's stringent clean air rules.

Breyer said in March that former FBI Director Robert Mueller told him Volkswagen, government regulators and attorneys for car owners had made substantial progress toward a resolution that would get the polluting cars off the road.