- The Justice Department has sued eBay for the sale of "rolling coal" devices.
- "Rolling coal" is the act of revving a truck engine to blow and obnoxious cloud of gas.
eBay could be facing billions of dollars in fines for the sale of devices that let pickup trucks emit giant, obnoxious gas clouds.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the online retailer, alleging in court documents that eBay allowed the sale of more than 343,000 "defeat devices." Defeat devices are designed to cancel out vehicle emission controls, and are in violation of the Clean Air Act, according to the DOJ.
"Aftermarket defeat devices significantly increase pollution emissions — including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and nonmethane hydrocarbons — that harm public health and impede efforts by the EPA, states, Tribes, and local agencies to plan for and attain air quality standards," the DOJ said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, defeat devices can cause engines to emit "thousands of times more pollution" than a vehicle that has normally functioning emission reduction controls.
The DOJ says in the lawsuit that each of the 343,000 transactions — which took place between November 2015 and January 2023 — make eBay subject to a $5,580 fine.
Defeat devices are meant to boost the performance of diesel vehicles, but are often used to outfit trucks for "rolling coal."
Rolling coal is the practice of revving a truck engine to blow a thick cloud of gas from the tailpipe.
Only a handful of states, including Maine, Utah, New Jersey, Maryland, Colorado, and Connecticut, have laws that specifically prohibit the practice.
In September 2021, a 16-year-old in Texas was accused of mowing down a group of cyclists while trying to "roll coal" past them, leaving four of them hospitalized. Local prosecutors charged the teen with six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one for each cyclist injured, according to KSAT.
eBay did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.