Volkswagen says to continue discussions with EPA on Wednesday

California regulators have rejected Volkswagen’s latest plan to fix the emissions systems on hundreds of thousands of diesel cars equipped with emissions test cheating software.

This rejection only applies to Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter diesel cars, as the deadline for the 3.0-liter recall plans is February 2, 2016.

In rejecting VW’s plans, the automaker finds itself under the gun to find a way to fix the cars, all while facing hundreds of lawsuits in a California courtroom.

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Muller says his company “didn’t lie” to federal regulators about its efforts to circumvent federal air pollution emission standards. Today, CARB denied that request (PDF), saying that California regulations “require expeditious action” during a recall.

Asked about the issue at a public appearance last week, McCarthy said EPA has yet to identify “a satisfactory way forward” toward a fix for the owners of VW’s diesel cars.

The CARB cited three reasons for the rejection: “gaps and a lack of sufficient detail”, a lack of “enough information for a technical evaluation”, and – perhaps most damningly – a claim that “the proposals do not adequately address overall impacts on vehicle performance, emissions and safety”.

“Mr. Mü ller’s comments are disturbing, especially in light of the company’s continued lack of cooperation with our investigation”, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said in a statement. CARB will continue to talk with VW about the issue to figure out a way to come to a solution that the state feels “protects the environment, public health and consumers”. Mueller said the source of the dispute is variations between German and US laws governing corporate documents. “In an apparent moment of candor in Detroit, we now learn that the company’s newly appointed and most senior leader doesn’t believe Volkswagen lied, which is undisputable, and can not say when it plans to deliver its solution to a problem that is affecting millions of Americans, which is unacceptable”, Jepsen said.

Last week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said “no deal” to Volkswagen’s proposal to buy back some of the vehicles that were outfitted with cheat devices.

The German automaker has admitted to selling diesel models of its cars that had software installed that violated the Clean Air Act by activating required air pollution protections only during emissions tests.

“This will take us until the end of next year [to fix]”, Horn said.