Caterpillar said Friday it is still in negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but fully intends to comply with the terms of the consent decrees it and four other U.S. engine manufacturers negotiated with the government in 1998.

Cummins and Detroit Diesel announced last week that they had received official word from the EPA and the Dept. of Justice that the government would not consider any amendments to the decrees which require the engine makers to meet strict new emissions requirements by October 2002.
Carl Volz, senior communications representative for Caterpillar Inc. said the company was "still in discussions with EPA," and characterized the discussions as "cooperative." Volz said the company would not reveal the nature of these discussions, merely that they were "complex."
Volz was reluctant to reveal details on how Cat would reconcile the difference in timing between the consent decree's October 2002 deadline and the company's stated position that it would not be ready to introduce its ACERT technology until the third quarter of 2003.
"We continue to discuss issues relating to the consent decree, and are focusing on the ACERT breakthrough technology," Volz said.
"Obviously we have chasen a different path than competitors and are convinced (the technology) will reduce emissions and maintain reliability while saving the truck manufacturers having to reconfigure as they will for EGR," he said. "ACERT dramatically enhances Caterpillar's leadership in clean diesel technology," Volz added.
Reiterating that the new technology won't be available in time for the restated deadlines, Volz said: "ACERT is very important (for us). We have bet the farm and we are very confident it is going to work. It will be commercially available in 2003."