TOPEKA, KANSAS (RFD NEWS) — The agriculture industry is working to digest major news out of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding, the rule that claims vehicle emissions cause climate change, calling the move the “largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States.”
The EPA is preparing what Administrator Lee Zeldin calls the “biggest deregulatory action” in the agency’s history, releasing a list of 31 proposals in response to President Donald Trump’s Day One executive orders and Power the Great American Comeback.
One of these landmark deregulation efforts was rescinding the 2009 endangerment finding that determined vehicle emissions were a driver of climate change. President Donald Trump says farmers will see significant relief.
“Lee is also working on cleaning up the horrible situation with regard to farm equipment,” Trump said this week. “You could use John Deere as an example and other companies where tractors are unbelievably expensive and don’t work as well because of all of the environmental nonsense that was put on them.”
While the action does not directly target agricultural emissions, farm groups are calling it a major win, citing potential benefits like lower input costs and improved equipment reliability.
RFD NEWS Farm Legal Expert Roger McEowen with Kansas’ Washburn School of Law joined us on Thursday’s Market Day Report to provide insight into the endangerment finding.
In his interview with RFD NEWS, McEowen explains the background of the EPA’s latest action, what it entails, and its impact on agriculture over the years. He also discussed what led to the EPA’s decision to rescind the finding and highlighted the key benefits this move could hold for farmers and ranchers.
McEowen says farmers who rely on fossil fuel-powered machinery stand to benefit.
“One, it’s going to reduce equipment cost and complexity,” McEowen said. “We’ve had a lot of problems with respect to that since this rule went into place, and we’ve seen equipment costs. This rule has actually added tens of thousands of dollars to equipment costs and operational reliability. Modern emission systems frequently lead to limp mode errors, which can shut down tractors during critical planting or harvest season, and this finding paves the way for the repeal of these standards and will eliminate that result.”
McEowen says farmers will also likely see relief in input costs, such as fertilizer and fuel, as a result of the change.
Lastly, McEowen addressed the potential for litigation in response to the deregulatory action, outlining the legal landscape moving forward.
Environmental groups are expected to challenge the move, but McEowen says that could be an uphill battle following the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the Chevron doctrine.
