EPA says to take tougher stance on auto emissions tests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators said on Friday they are sending a letter to all automobile manufacturers saying they are stepping up emissions-testing activities in response to Volkswagen's alleged violations of pollution laws. "We are upping our game," Chris Grundler, head of transportation and air quality at the Environmental Protection Agency, told reporters in a teleconference. Volkswagen could face $18 billion in fines from the EPA after it admitted using software in diesel cars that evades emissions tests. This week Volkswagen said 11 million cars were fitted with engines that had shown a noticeable deviation in emissions levels between testing and road use. The EPA said it will improve its ability to detect so-called defeat devices or software that can reduce emissions during testing. But it will not tell automakers specifically how it is improving the testing. "They don't need to know," Grundler said. In the past the EPA has been mostly focused on emissions from heavy-duty vehicles but it is improving testing of light-duty cars, agency officials said. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and David Morgan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)