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WASHINGTON — Diesel engine manufacturers told federal officials they cannot meet an Oct. 1, 2002, deadline to produce cleaner-burning engines as agreed to in a 1998 consent decree.

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If the manufacturers don’t make the deadline, and if federal regulators don’t relent, the prospect of a ban on U.S. diesel engine sales looms.

All of the engine manufacturers contacted by Transport Topics after word of their inability to meet the deadline was revealed declined to comment or failed to return telephone calls.

Justice Department spokesman Pete Carroll said there is a “little bit of brinkmanship going on.” He declined to be specific, but pointed out that the manufacturers — if they intend to sell the engines in the U.S. — need to meet the consent decree requirements.

For the full story, see the July 3 print edition of Transport Topics. .