Coal rolling, a fad for trolling environmentalists, is against the law as far as the Environmental Protection Agency agency is concerned.

Anti-environmentalists have started rigging their trucks to expel more and darker exhaust than normal as a sort of counter-attack to environmentalists advocating lower emissions from vehicles. It’s called “coal rolling.”

TPM reached out to Liz Purchia, the press secretary for the EPA, about the changes. Purchia told TPM “the short answer is this is illegal.”

Purchia pointed to two paragraphs on the air enforcement page of the EPA’s website. One paragraph said:

It is a violation of the [Clean Air Act] to manufacture, sell, or install a part for a motor vehicle that bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative any emission control device. For example, computer software that alters diesel fuel injection timing is a defeat device. Defeat devices, which are often sold to enhance engine performance, work by disabling a vehicle’s emission controls, causing air pollution. As a result of EPA enforcement, some of the largest manufacturers of defeat devices have agreed to pay penalties and stop the sale of defeat devices.

The other paragraph said:

The CAA prohibits anyone from tampering with an emission control device on a motor vehicle by removing it or making it inoperable prior to or after the sale or delivery to the buyer. A vehicle’s emission control system is designed to limit emissions of harmful pollutants from vehicles or engines. EPA works with manufacturers to ensure that they design their components with tamper-proofing, addresses trade groups to educate mechanics about the importance of maintaining the emission control systems, and prosecutes cases where significant or imminent harm is occurring.

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