John Deere and Equipment manufacturers have long blamed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, when queried why they don't allow farmers the right to repair their tractors.
"We'd love to allow people to repair stuff, but the damn EPA won't let us."
The EPA Administrator just said "nope, that's a lie"
Progressive Farmer: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | US EPA
Nothing in the Clean Air Act forbids farmers and independent repair shops from making emissions and other repairs to agriculture equipment, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a letter to the National Farmers Union on Aug. 4.
Equipment manufacturers often say the EPA's Clean Air Act doesn't allow farmers and independent repair shops to repair emissions equipment, raising concerns about liability for improper or even potentially dangerous repairs.
Regan went a step further in telling the group the Clean Air Act actually encourages such repairs.
"Crucially, the Clean Air Act makes no distinction between repair by a manufacturer versus another party," Regan said in the letter that was sent in response to a June 13 letter from NFU President Rob Larew.
"Actions that qualify as repair or replacement are allowed under the Clean Air Act regardless of who makes them. Moreover, nothing in the Clean Air Act or the EPA's regulations limits a manufacturer's ability to provide service tools and information to consumers and independent repair facilities for the purpose of repairing their equipment."
Regan went on to say in the letter, "The Clean Air Act denotes Congress' concern about the ways in which manufacturers might impede the ability of other parties to repair regulated equipment and puts in place safeguards to prevent that from happening."
For instance, the law prohibits manufacturers from writing their service instructions in a way that "steers end users away from independent repairers."
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