EPA Airing on the Side of the Farmer
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
In a letter to the National Farmers Union, the Environmental Protection Agency affirmed that the Clean Air Act cannot be used as a basis to restrict independent repair of farm equipment.
We’re talking about Right to Repair legislation here today. In their opposition to such legislation, equipment manufacturers and dealers have invoked EPA regulations and the Clean Air Act – specifically related to tampering with emissions control systems – as justification for their need to restrict repair.
Now the EPA is saying they’re not part of the fight.
According to NFU President Rob Larew, “EPA confirmed what farmers have known all along – equipment manufacturers have been using bad faith justifications to restrict independent repair.” EPA Administrator Michael Regan stated that “Like NFU and its members, EPA believes barriers to the proper repair and maintenance of nonroad equipment is harmful to the environment.”
NFU has come out in strong support of a federal legislative solution that guarantees farmers and independent mechanics the Right to Repair farm equipment on fair and reasonable terms and costs.
