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Administrator Zeldin Discusses DEF Actions with Farmers in Oklahoma, Jun. 2, 2026

June 2, 2026 · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · 0:02:29

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Administrator Lee Zeldin told Oklahoma farm audiences that a tractor shutting down during harvest because of a faulty diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) system has long been a devastating reality for farmers, and that the Trump EPA has acted on it, as he stated it. He recounted an August announcement at the Iowa State Fair with Secretary Rollins, Senator Joni Ernst and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler reversing DEF derates, followed, he said, by work with manufacturers to update software.

Zeldin stated that on February 2 the EPA issued right-to-repair guidance making clear owners can repair their own equipment or use someone they trust, and that EPA sent a demand letter to 14 engine manufacturers holding 80 percent of the market for information on DEF system failures, receiving responses from all 14. He further stated that at the end of March, President Trump announced new guidance to eliminate the requirement for DEF sensors altogether, then in interagency review, and that EPA’s 2027 nitrous oxide proposal would seek to eliminate DEF derates permanently, as he described the plan.

Why it matters

The Oklahoma remarks turn a multi-step regulatory rollback into a dated sequence of agency actions, each element of which can be checked against EPA’s own record.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard candidate: the February 2 right-to-repair guidance, the demand letter to 14 manufacturers, and the proposed elimination of DEF derates in the 2027 nitrous oxide proposal, all as the Administrator stated them. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no verdict given here.

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Administrator Zeldin Discusses DEF Actions with Farmers in Oklahoma, Jun. 2, 2026”, Oklahoma, 2026-06-02 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-06-02). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.