Caterpillar announced Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency has certified its newest diesel engine, which does not meet emissions standards that took effect Tuesday, but will allow the company to continue selling engines in all U.S. states except California.
The company said it expects California to certify the engine as well.
EPA approval of the newest engine is contingent upon further testing, which the agency said it would not be able to complete before Tuesday’s deadline. Cat will pay a penalty for not having an engine to meet the new emissions rules, but the exact amount will depend on tests that haven’t been performed yet, the company said.
Cat said it expects to develop an engine that does meet the new standards by the end of the first quarter and plans to start selling those engines sometime in the second quarter. That engine will be based on Cat’s ACERT technology, which the company said it will be able to use in both on- and off-road engines.
Cat spokesman Carl Volz told Reuters the company doesn’t expect the costs of the penalties to be material to this year’s financial results.
