Caterpillar Receives Engine Certification from EPA
Sep 26, 2002 12:00 PM
Caterpillar announced today that it has received certification from the U S Environmental Protection Agency for the company's on-highway truck engines manufactured after September 30, 2002. The certification will ensure the availability of Caterpillar truck engines after the EPA emissions deadline of October 1, 2002.The EPA certification allows the sale of Caterpillar engines in 49 states and Canada with no restrictions for customers who purchase the engines. With this EPA action, Caterpillar now expects the state of California to complete the certification of engines by the California Air Resources Board.
The Caterpillar certification is conditional upon final EPA testing of production engines as required by the certification process. The EPA informed Caterpillar that it will be unable to complete the necessary certification work before the federally mandated deadline of October 1, 2002. However the EPA indicated that it does not foresee any obstacles to full certification of all Caterpillar engine families. Therefore, Caterpillar fully expects to receive complete EPA certification in the near future.
"We recognize the substantial amount of work that EPA must conclude in a short amount of time, and commend the agency for its desire to make sure the certifications are accurate and complete," said Sherril West, Caterpillar vice-president with responsibility for the company's Technical Services Division.
Caterpillar engines produced after September 30, 2002 will be very similar to the company's current engines, but with some elements of Caterpillar's ACERT technology. Engines with full ACERT technology will be commercially available beginning early next year.
