Op-ed: Trump EPA’s fix for DEF guidelines will help ag community

EPA’s Fix for DEF guidelines Will Help Ag Community
by EPA Regional Administrator Scott Mason

As a native of Cordell, it’s an honor to serve the people of Oklahoma as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 6 Dallas headquarters, which also covers Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and 66 federally recognized Tribes. I share President Trump and Administrator Lee Zeldin’s belief that EPA’s work should benefit all Americans without hindering our economy.

Nowhere is this goal illustrated more clearly than in the agricultural community. I’ve met with farmers and ranchers about how EPA can be a help to them, including at a roundtable I held in Burns Flat with Blayne Arthur of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in May. Their message is clear and consistent: get rid of the unnecessary bureaucracy that makes their work more difficult and less efficient. I’ve shared these concerns with EPA’s senior leaders, and as shown by Administrator Zeldin’s recent announcement revising diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) requirements, EPA is listening and taking action.

As many farmers, truckers, and diesel vehicle operators know, these engine systems automatically lose power and speed when DEF runs out or a sensor fails. In many cases, vehicles were limited to moving as slow as five miles per hour within hours of a DEF-related fault.

We’ve heard from farmers who have been stranded in the middle of a harvest, or truck drivers who have had to pull over on the highway in the middle of a delivery route. In short, these guidelines have literally stopped parts of our economy in its tracks. However, the best part about this issue is that it is easily fixable. At the Trump EPA, we want to do our part to keep our tractors, farm equipment, and trucks in operation to ensure the hardworking Americans using these vehicles can continue doing their jobs in peace while protecting our environment.

Based on feedback from these operators, including those who attended our roundtable in Washita County, EPA has issued new, common-sense guidance that empowers diesel engine manufactures to revise their DEF system software in existing vehicles to prevent sudden, severe power loss and eliminate abrupt shutdowns that create real-world disruptions.

Depending on the type of vehicle, operators will now have 80 to 200 hours before experiencing significant speed reduction. And starting with model year 2027, all new diesel engines will be required to prevent severe power loss and shutdowns tied to DEF issues.

EPA has streamlined the process so that no separate approvals will be required beyond our guidance letter and manufacturers have assured EPA they are ready to take immediate action on these changes. 

These modifications provide more flexibility and reliability without compromising air quality or emissions reductions, and Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates this will save $727 million annually for farmers alone with additional savings for truckers and other sectors of our economy. 

The Trump EPA is working hard to Power the Great American Comeback, and that means making sure our regulations don’t overburden important economic sectors. We will continue listening to our agriculture partners and other stakeholders and enacting common-sense changes to ensure we continue to protect the environment while keeping the economy strong.

Scott Mason, a Cordell native, is the Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA’s South Central Region headquartered in Dallas, TX. He oversees the federal environmental protection of 49 million Americans in the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and 66 Tribal Nations.