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February 8, 1999 1:00 , EST

Freightliner Corp. and its parent company, Daimler-Benz AG, claim that in 1991 the Environmental Protection Agency explicitly condoned the same electronic emissions controls that the agency later called “defeat devices,” forcing U.S. diesel engine makers into a punishing settlement for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.

Company officials said they specifically asked EPA at a June 1991 meeting whether the electronic fuel injection timing used in newly developed engines met federal requirements.

“The answer was clearly that it’s legal, not illegal,” said a source who attended the meeting and asked not to be identified.

The EPA, which has maintained that engine manufacturers did not tell it about the timing strategies, refused to comment for this story.

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