Volkswagen has agreed to pay nearly $15 billion to settle claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal in what would be one of the largest consumer class-action settlements ever in the United States.大众汽车(Volkswagen)表示同意为其柴油机废气作弊丑闻缴纳近150亿美元妥协金。这将是有史以来美国最大规模的消费者集体诉讼妥协方案之一。The proposed settlement, valued at $14.7 billion and involving the federal government and lawyers representing the owners of about 475,000 Volkswagen vehicles, includes just over $10 billion to buy back affected cars at their pre-scandal values, and additional cash compensation for the owners, according to two people briefed on the settlement’s terms.两名知情人士透漏，妥协方案的总金额为147亿美元，牵涉到联邦政府及代表大约47.5万大众车主的律师，其中100亿美元翻身的金额用来买入汽车并对车主获取额外现金补偿，而买入价格以丑闻再次发生前的价值不尽相同。

The cash compensation offered to each car owner will range from $5,100 to $10,000, depending on their market value before Volkswagen’s public admission last September that its supposed “clean diesel” cars had been deliberately designed to cheat on air-quality tests.补偿给每个车主的现金从5100美元到1万美元平均，各不相同大众去年9月公开发表否认作弊之前车辆的市场价值。涉案车辆本来应当是“洗手柴油”车，却经过无意的设计在空气质量测试中作弊。Rather than sell their vehicles back to Volkswagen, car owners can also choose to have their vehicles fixed to meet emissions standards, although doing so would probably reduce the engines’ performance and gas mileage. And the methods for fixing the vehicles that Volkswagen has proposed are still subject to approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the federal parties to the case.车主可以自由选择退款，也可以自由选择返修，从而让车辆超过废气标准，不过这样做到很可能会减少发动机的性能，减少油耗。大众明确提出的车辆返修办法依然必须获得美国国家环境保护局(Environmental Protection Agency)的批准后。

环保局是这宗案件的联邦当事方之一。The settlement terms, first reported by Bloomberg News, are to be submitted on Tuesday to a federal judge in California whose final approval would be required for the deal to take effect.彭博新闻社(Bloomberg News)首度报导了这项妥协协议的条款。

它将于本周二递交给加利福尼亚州的一位联邦法官展开最后审查，批准后后方能生效。Volkswagen would pay $2.7 billion into an E.P.A. fund, the two people said, to compensate for the environmental impact of its cars, which were fitted with software that enabled them to pass emissions tests but exceed legal pollution limits in on-the-road driving.这两名知情人士称之为，大众将向环保局的一个基金缴纳27亿美元，以填补这些汽车对环境导致的影响。

车辆上装有能让它们通过废气测试的软件，但在公路上行经时，它们的污染废气却不会多达法律限值。Volkswagen has also agreed to spend $2 billion on new cleaner-vehicle projects.大众还表示同意在更为洗手的汽车新项目上投放20亿美元。

Despite the scope of the agreement, Volkswagen’s legal problems would be far from over.尽管该协议范围受限，但大众的法律困难相比之下好比于此。Volkswagen also faces a criminal inquiry by the Department of Justice, a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and an investigation by attorneys general in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company is also under investigation in a number of other countries, including Germany and South Korea.大众汽车还面对着由司法部展开的一起刑事调查、联邦贸易委员会(Federal Trade Commission)驳回的一桩诉讼，以及42个州、哥伦比亚特区和波多黎各的司法部长展开的一项调查。德国和韩国等其他一些国家也在对该公司展开调查。

The German automaker acknowledged last year that it had installed illegal software in 11 million cars worldwide that made them capable of defeating pollution tests.这家德国汽车生产商去年否认，它在全球1100万辆车上加装了非法软件，以便它们能通过废气检测。During emissions testing, the cars’ pollution controls systems were turned on, curbing toxic emissions at the cost of engine performance. But those emissions controls were not fully engaged on the road, where its cars spewed nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times the levels allowed under the Clean Air Act.在废气检测中，车辆的污染控制系统不会被关上，遏止发动机性能，缩减剧毒物质的废气。但是，在道路上行经时，这种废气控制系统并会充份启动，汽车废气的氮氧化物不会比《洗手空气法》(Clean Air Act)拒绝的水平低最少40倍。

The proposed settlement requires a review by United States District Judge Charles R. Breyer in California and must go through a period of public comment, during which terms could yet change.这份草拟的妥协方案必须加州的联邦地区法官查尔斯·R·布雷耶(Charles R. Breyer)展开审查，还必需经过一段公众评议期。在此期间，条款仍有可能变更。Affected Volkswagen owners are not bound by the settlement, and some may decide to press for better terms.不受影响的大众车主不不受这个方案的约束，其中一些车主可能会谋求更加不利的条款。

The settlement does not include 3-liter Volkswagen diesel vehicles, which were fitted with another version of the cheating software.该妥协协议不牵涉到3升至的大众柴油车。它们装有该作弊软件的另一个版本。Nor will the deal address terms for the owners of 85,000 Volkswagen and Porsche cars sold in the United States that had a different type of diesel engine but also had emissions problems.这项交易也不牵涉到在美国销售的另外8.5万辆大众与保时捷汽车。

它们的柴油发动机类型有所不同，但也不存在废气问题。

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