Remove "Delete" in node/edit via hook_form_alter I need to programmatically remove the Delete button in node edit forms under certain circumstances.

Normally, I'd do this in a hook_form_alter using $form['actions']['delete']['#access'] = FALSE;.

When I view in dpm(), "delete", however, does not have an "#access" key (though 'Submit' and 'Preview' do).  How do I disable 'Delete' 

(…and, if you know why it wouldn't provide #access, I'm curious about that too).
You can use hook_node_access instead 

e.g:

/**
 * Implements hook_node_access().
 */
function MODULE_node_access($node, $op, $account) {

  if ($op == "delete") {
    // If no user object is supplied, the access check is for the current user.
    if (empty($account)) {
      $account = $GLOBALS['user'];
    }
    // You can add your own condition check here...
    return user_access("delete content", $account) ? NODE_ACCESS_ALLOW : NODE_ACCESS_DENY;
  }

  return NODE_ACCESS_IGNORE;

}