(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG has agreed to spend more than$15 billion to get hundreds of thousands of emissions-cheatingdiesel vehicles off U.S. roads and placate regulators, insettlements that set a U.S. auto-industry record but still leave VWfacing criminal and civil complaints on three continents.

Under the agreement with car owners announced on Tuesday, ownerswill have the choice of having Volkswagen buy back their vehiclesor install whatever pollution-control retrofit is eventuallyaccepted by regulators. In either case, the owners will get $5,100to $10,000 each in additional compensation. Some leaseholders willreceive roughly half those amounts. The agreement still requires ajudge’s approval.

VW will also have to pay $2.7 billion to federal and California regulators for a trust to fundpollution-reduction projects and also make a $2 billion investmentin clean technology.

“This historic agreement holds Volkswagen accountable for itsbetrayal of consumer trust,” said Elizabeth Cabraser, the leadcounsel for the plaintiffs.

Volkswagen also announced an agreement with 44 U.S. states, theDistrict of Columbia and Puerto Rico to resolve their consumerand environmental claims in a settlement worth $603 million.

The settlements mark a swift resolution for VW in the U.S.,after the carmaker admitted last September to systematicallyrigging environmental tests since 2009 to hide that its dieselvehicles were emitting far more pollutants than allowed under U.S.and California law. It also starts a clock for VW to get hundredsof thousands of vehicles fixed or removed from the road.

VW shares rose 2.4% Tuesday to 108.60 euros in Frankfurt.

Energy investments

By requiring VW to spend billions over a decade to reduce pollutionand advance clean energy technology, the U.S. is forcing thecarmaker to make up for the environmental damage caused by itsdiesel engines. A major beneficiary is California, which called outVW for its emissions cheating and will receive $800 million forclean energy development.

“We can’t undo the damage VW caused to air quality, we can’tsuck the NOx out of the air, but we can offset that damage byreducing pollution from other sources,” Deputy AttorneyGeneral Sally Quillian Yates said at a news conference at theJustice Department, referring to emissionsof nitrogen oxides.

The record settlement raises questions about whether VW willneed to devote more than the 16.2 billion euros ($17.9 billion) ithas set aside to cover the cost of repairs, fines and legal fees.On Tuesday, VW said the settlement was within the scope of theprovisions it has already made and repeated that its assessment offinancial risk might be revised.

“It will take a long time to determine the full cost of thescandal,” said Frank Biller, a Stuttgart-based analyst at LBBWBank. “Now it looks as if we might be able to close this chapter,and if that were to be true, it would remove some uncertainty.”

Biller estimates the total price tag will exceed 26.5 billioneuros ($29.36 billion), including potential litigation costs inother countries.

The Justice Department said that VW could still be on the hookfor further civil penalties, and a U.S. criminal investigation isunder way.

“We’re aggressively pursuing the criminal investigation in thiscase, both against companies and individuals,” Yates said.

Unresolved claims

Indeed, the agreements, which advance Volkswagen’s efforts to movebeyond its costly diesel-cheating scandal, still leave unresolvedother lawsuits as well as criminal probes in the U.S., Germany andSouth Korea.

The settlement with the U.S. government requires VW to get 85%of the cars recalled by June 30, 2019. If it fails to do that, itwill have to pay $85 million more into the environmentalmitigation trust for each percentage point of the shortfall. Itwill also have to pay an additional $13.5 million into the trustfor each percentage point it falls below the 85% target inCalifornia.

Related: Volkswagen's excess emissions will kill 59Americans, according to a new study

VW owners can continue to drive their vehicles for now, even ifthey wouldn’t pass state emissions testing. Individual states mayrequire approved emissions fixes on these vehicles in the future.Owners who choose the buyback option will receive their cars’trade-in value as of last September, just before VW’s admission,plus the compensation payments.

The agreement covers a half million 2.0-liter engines but leavesclaims related to about 80,000 3.0-liter engines for furthernegotiations. VW must scrap cars that it buys back and cannotresell them.

Volkswagen’s agreements with car owners and the U.S. must beapproved by U.S.District Judge Charles Breyer, who is overseeing more than 800lawsuits over the rigged vehicles that were consolidated in SanFrancisco. Breyer is scheduled on July 26 to consider approving theagreements.

Volkswagen also reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission over its advertisingclaims.

‘Step forward’

“We take our commitment to make things right very seriously andbelieve these agreements are a significant step forward,” saidMatthias Müeller, VW’s chief executive officer.

As part of the settlement with the states, New York will receivemore than $115 million for air-quality improvement projects, aswell as about $30 million for the state’s coffers, according to theNew York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who led theinvestigation by the states. New York will also continue ainvestigation into the scope of VW’s environmental liability.

Leaders of the multi-state probe also included Massachusetts,Connecticut, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.

“These partial settlements announced today exact a stiff pricefrom Volkswagen for its deception of consumers and theenvironmental damage it has caused in New York and across thecountry,” Schneiderman said in a written statement.

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