By Ryan Hanrahan
Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks reported that “farmers and repair shops are allowed to temporarily override emission control systems for repair purposes, according to guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency Monday.”
“The guidance says using procedures and tools to temporarily take products ‘out of certified configuration as necessary to perform maintenance and repair’ are not prohibited under the Clean Air Act,” Wicks reported. “While the guidance follows existing language under Clean Air Act regulations, it represents the Trump administration’s foray into a debate over ‘right to repair’ that has taken place in the farm community in recent years.”
AgWeb’s Tyne Morgan reported that the new guidance is “a move EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says is intended to end years of confusion and misuse of the law that has limited farmers’ ability to fix their own machinery. ‘Unfortunately, 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,’ he says. ‘Because of this misinterpretation of the law, manufacturers have limited the ability of farmers and independent repair shops to repair equipment.'”
“‘Today we are issuing guidance out of the Trump EPA to make abundantly clear that if you own your farm and other non-road diesel equipment, you have the right to fix it,’ Zeldin says,” according to Morgan’s reporting. “‘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 says manufacturers have relied on what he calls a false interpretation of the Clean Air Act to restrict access to repair tools, software and diagnostic systems,” Morgan reported. “He says today’s announcement will make that new guidance clear.”
Source : illinois.edu