I had a good talk with my local dealer about the 600 reliability (he's sold 1,000+ 600 c-tec2s with ZERO failures, btw, and I believe him), which led to me asking if the new 800s have had any teething issues.
Anyways, he said nothing major, but that the 2019 800s would have new calibrations to tweak minor issues, and that the new calibration couldn't just be flashed to all existing or new engines; Any new calibration itself has to be EPA-certified before being released to the public.
Perhaps that's what was meant by "compliant."
I just found it interesting (ridiculous?) that a simple reflash to make these motors run better has to go through the whole certification process again, but I suppose that shouldn't be surprising... damn EPA.