The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it plans to eliminate diesel emissions requirements for farm equipment, arguing the move will reduce costs and mechanical burdens for farmers already grappling with high input prices and economic strain. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the forthcoming rulemaking during a joint press conference with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, saying the agency plans to eliminate diesel exhaust fluid, or DEF, requirements for agricultural equipment after hearing repeated complaints from farmers about equipment failures. “We are soon going to be introducing a new proposal, and it will be out there for public comment for farmers across this country to comment on, to completely eliminate diesel exhaust fluid arrangements altogether,” Zeldin said.
Diesel exhaust fluid is used in modern diesel engines to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, a contributor to air pollution. The fluid works with selective catalytic reduction systems installed on many tractors and heavy-duty farm vehicles to comply with federal emissions standards.
Zeldin said farmers across the country repeatedly described tractors shutting down at inopportune times because of emissions systems tied to DEF requirements, sometimes multiple times in a single year during planting or harvest season.
