I eliminated that vaccum junction and every imaginable piece of smog equip. some time ago. The only vaccum line I have run is from the intake to the f.p. regulator. No tree, no power brakes, removed the heater core and fan assembly from under the dash and all their vaccum lines...
About the check engine light, never had one until I disconnected the wiring harness from the EGR valve (experimenting to see what all I could eliminate before the dreaded light came on). I replaced it and still run the EGR spacer for that reason even though I actually do not have a functioning EGR system (it's an off road car, I swear
). Simplicity... I hated all of that clutter in the engine compartment (afterall that's were I spend most of my time it seems).
Just some food for thought...