Business Briefs: Regulators approve fix for Volkswagen diesels

Oct. 24--Regulators approve fix for Volkswagen diesels

Federal and state officials said Monday they have approved a fix for 38,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche sport utility vehicles with diesel engines that were cheating on emissions tests.

The approval brings German automaker Volkswagen AG closer to resolving a costly and embarrassing scandal that began two years ago, when the company admitted more than 550,000 vehicles in the U.S. -- and 11 million worldwide -- were designed to cheat on emissions tests. The vehicles have software that turns on emissions controls during testing but turns them off in everyday driving.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board had to approve the fix under a $1.2 billion settlement approved by a federal judge this spring. The most recent fix applies to 3-liter diesels in 2013-2016 models of the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne and the 2015 Audi Q7.

Volkswagen will contact owners about the fix. Dealers will update the software in all the vehicles and modify hardware in some of them for free. Owners also will receive compensation of between $7,039 and $16,114.

State certifies park ready for industry

A 148.5-acre industrial park midway betweeen Chattanooga and Knoxville has been designated as one of four new Select Tennessee Certified Sites, signifying it has the infrastructure available for immediate development.

The 75 Regional Commerce Park in Sweetwater, which opened in October 2013, has attracted several inquiries but no tenants or buyers. Nicholas Cazana, president of Commercial and Investment Properties Co., in Knoxville, developed the industrial site from farmland and hopes the new designation will attract more interest.

"This helps any site prospect know exactly what this site offers and makes this property extremely marketable," Cazana said Monday. "We are wiling to joint venture, lease or sell sites in this park, but the main thing is to garner interest in manufacturing or other facilities that would employ a lot of people in the area."

Launched in 2012, the Select Tennessee program sets rigorous standards to give companies detailed and reliable information during the site selection process. Statewide, 52 sites have been certified.

Hartford buys disability business from Aetna

Aetna, the nation's third-largest health insurer, is selling its domestic group life and disability businesses for $1.45 billion to Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co.

Aetna said the cash deal also includes its absence management business and should close next month.

Health insurance is Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna's main business. The insurer covers more than 22 million people, and its health care segment brought in $1.8 billion in pretax adjusted earnings in the second quarter.

In contrast, the insurer's group insurance business, which includes life and disability coverage, reported pretax, adjusted earnings of $42 million.

Mayors to ban gas cars by 2030

The mayors of London, Los Angeles, Paris and several other major world cities are pledging to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles from "large parts" of their cities by 2030.

Some cities are moving even faster to reduce emissions, and the announcement Monday by leading metropolitan areas is a bid to encourage others to do the same.

Mayors meeting in Paris promised to "progressively abandon combustion engines" to make their cities cleaner and quieter, boost economic productivity and reduce pollution-related deaths.

Monday's pledge was released by the mayors of London, Los Angeles, Paris, Mexico City, Seattle, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Vancouver, Milan, Quito, Cape Town and Auckland.

While U.S. President Donald Trump is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, American and other politicians are moving to reduce emissions on a local level.

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