EPA issues guidance backing farmers ‘right-to-repair’ equipment

The Environmental Protection Agency issued new guidance allowing farmers to repair their own equipment, saying manufacturers have improperly used the Clean Air Act to restrict access to repair tools or software. 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, along with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, announced on Monday new guidance clarifying that farmers and equipment owners can temporarily override emission systems for repairs, provided the equipment is returned to compliance. 

The guidance is part of an effort to ensure farmers and equipment owners have the right to repair their own equipment. In recent years, manufacturers have withheld software and tools, forcing farmers to go to the nearest authorized dealership and wait for repairs.

Zeldin said manufacturers have “misused” the Clean Air Act, which regulates