Today was the day, the deadline for Volkswagen to come up with a fix for some 500,000 diesel-engine vehicles that contain “defeat devices” to skirt federal emissions standards, only that didn’t happen. Instead, a judge is giving the company one more month. 

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District judge Charles R. Breyer gave VW until April 21 to provide him with a detailed plan to bring the affected vehicles into compliance with clean air laws and compensate owners, or risk going to trial.

Breyer previously declared that six months was long enough for VW to find a solution to the issue, emphasizing that every day the cars remain in use additional pollution is emitted.

“It’s an ongoing harm that has to be addressed,” Breyer said back in February. “I’ve found the process is a function of how much time people have available to fill. The story about lawyers is that if you give them a year to do something, it will take them a year to do something. If you give them 30 days to do something, they’ll do something in 30 days.”

Breyer changed his tune a bit on Thursday, saying that former FBI director Robert Mueller, appointed to oversee discussions between the parties, had told him that the carmaker, regulators, and attorneys have made progress on the issue.

The parties were not able to immediately announce the solution because engineering technicalities and other important issues still needed to be resolved, Breyer said Mueller told him.

“I would hope by the 21st that as many outstanding issues as possible will be wrapped up,” he said Thursday, warning that he would seriously consider holding a trial this summer if a solution isn’t created soon.

A spokesperson for VW tells the AP that it is committed to finding a fair resolution.

Volkswagen gets a month for plan on diesel emissions fix [The Associated Press]

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