Trump Admin Sets Record Straight Over Red Tape Strangling Farmers

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released guidance Monday for farmers affirming their right to repair their farm and nonroad diesel equipment, aimed at saving them “headaches and costly hassles.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler told reporters Monday that if farmers own their property and nonroad diesel equipment, they have the right to fix it themselves. The guidance clarifies that manufacturers cannot use the Clean Air Act to “justify limiting access to repair tools or software,” the EPA announced Monday.

“This clarification applies to all nonroad diesel engines equipped with advanced emission control technologies including selective catalytic reduction and inducement systems as well as Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) system repairs,” the EPA said Monday. Affected equipment includes tractors, excavators, forklifts and other machinery that could be repaired in the field or at a local independent repair shop.

“This might seem like a no brainer, but ask any American farmer, and they will tell you about the headaches and costly hassles that they have been forced to endure at the hands of equipment manufacturers,” Zeldin told reporters on Monday. “Equipment manufacturers have misused the Clean Air Act by falsely claiming that environmental laws prevented them from making essential repair tools or software available to all Americans. … The Clean Air Act was written to ensure clean air for all Americans, not to lock farmers into expensive repairs.”

Loeffler told reporters that “in the aggregate, this is about a $48 billion savings ” Loeffler said the estimate was built farm-by-farm and that the move is estimated to save around $33,000 per repair.

“This should reduce operating costs on the farm by 10 percent annually,” Loeffler said, adding that “this could potentially reach an 80 percent annual reduction in the cost of repairs.”

One North Carolina farmer told