Yesterday, pursuant to President Trump’s directive in the Presidential Memorandum, “Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is advancing the freedom to fix for all Americans, regardless of vehicle or equipment type. EPA’s guidance affirms that, under the Clean Air Act (CAA), manufacturers must provide Americans access to the same service and repair information they make available to their own branded service centers. This includes Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) and other environmental control systems for on highway vehicles.
This action builds on EPA’s February 2026 guidance advancing operators’ ability to fix their nonroad diesel equipment and the agency’s actions to address nationwide concerns for American drivers, truckers, farmers, and equipment operators regarding DEF. In total, all of EPA’s actions are saving operators invaluable time, productivity, and money.
“Within 30 days of issuing his Presidential Memorandum, President Trump wanted EPA to act. We have operated at Trump speed and provided relief to American operators within just two days,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “The freedom to fix allows operators to fix broken machinery easier and faster. Today’s action builds on the great work the Trump Administration has accomplished to lower costs for hard-working Americans.”
For years, manufacturers have worked to provide consumers and independent repair shops with the same diagnostic and repair information they provide to franchised dealers. However, the CAA anti-tampering laws have caused some confusion regarding whether giving out certain tools and information would be considered enabling the tampering of emission control systems. This has forced Americans to travel long distances, hurting productivity, to get costly repairs done by manufacturers, when the repair easily could have been done at home or at a local repair shop. The CAA clearly states that temporary overrides of emission control systems are allowed when it is for the “purpose of repair” to that equipment to obtain proper functionality. EPA’s guidance, therefore, clarifies that light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers have a long-standing legal obligation to release the service information, training information, and tools necessary to diagnose and repair vehicles, including faulty DEF systems, on reasonable terms.
The agency is also reinforcing important consumer protections in the CAA, making clear that manufacturers cannot require the use of their own branded parts and that Americans can use generic, equivalent parts when fixing emissions control systems, including DEF systems. However, if a consumer chooses to use a noncertified part, the CAA does not guarantee warranty relief. Today’s actions do not change the law, weaken emission standards, or reduce compliance obligations. The obligations laid out in EPA’s guidance do not extend to those proprietary elements of manufacturers’ designs, software codes, or any other intellectual proprietary or confidential business information that is currently protected from disclosure in accordance with the CAA. More information can be found at EPA’s website, https://www.epa.gov/ve-certification/freedom-fix
