^ The rules also said no visual check on the deck surface for the last several years now, Jimbo.
That came around when the deck machining process changed in production and you could no longer tell in the tech barn who/where it had been machined. It was a rule clarification that made our job as tech men (and builders) easier by taking away the visual inspection and going by a black and white measurement - to which I am very thankful.
It also means that any cleaning/scraping of the graphite head gasket (and ensuing "machining" marks left on the deck surface) weren't grounds for disqualification. I know of at least one L206 engine out there that looks like someone took a Dremel or similar rotary tool with a Scotch Brite pad to the gasket surface. The same fellow did this to the head (which DID make it illegal.)
The down-side of removing the visual was that it opened the eyes of some builders to begin cutting the decks right to max (.005" before 2019.) Before that, I would guess that very few builders were cutting decks. I can count on one hand the number of blocks that I have personally cut the decks on since they have been coming with certification - and I seriously doubt that anyone would know the difference. Every one of those engines, by the way, were still under .0035."
I think that Dave, over all, has made some VERY good rules for this engine package, and tightening the piston pop-up will help considerably....Then again, there will always be that guy that wants his deck cut from .002" to .0035."