Trump delays EPA refrigerant rules

President Donald Trump said on May 21 that his administration would delay compliance with two Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency refrigerant rules, casting the move as a step to lower grocery prices. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a final revision to the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule and a proposed change to the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation rule, both aimed at easing requirements tied to hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. The White House said the two actions would save families and businesses more than $2.4 billion. Industry groups and other reporting said the effect on grocery bills was likely to be limited. ### Which rules did Trump move to delay? The EPA said on May 21 that it had finalized revisions to the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule, which governs the use of HFCs in sectors including supermarket refrigeration, cold storage, transport and some air-conditioning equipment. The agency said the revision extends compliance deadlines and makes a wider range of refrigerants available while keeping the program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. (epa.gov) The White House said Trump was also proposing a “technical fix” to the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation rule. That proposal would exempt road refrigerant transport appliances from leak-repair requirements that the administration said had been imposed on much of the refrigerated transport sector. ### What are HFCs, and why were the Biden rules written? (epa.gov) The EPA’s technology-transitions program was created under the AIM Act, which authorizes the agency to restrict uses of hydrofluorocarbons in sectors where alternatives are available. HFCs are widely used in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems and are potent greenhouse gases. The 2023 rule set sector-by-sector restrictions and compliance dates for equipment using higher-global-warming-potential refrigerants. (epa.gov) Reuters reported that the requirements affected grocers, semiconductor manufacturers and other businesses using HFCs, and were part of a broader Biden-era effort to reduce emissions of the chemicals. ### How much savings does the administration claim? (epa.gov) The White House said the two actions together would save Americans $2.4 billion. It said changes to the Technology Transitions Rule alone would save more than $900 million, including more than $800 million at supermarkets, while the proposed change to the 2024 rule could save refrigerated-goods transporters up to $1.5 billion. (usnews.com) Lee Zeldin said in an EPA statement that the Biden-era rules imposed “costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires” and that businesses would be able to choose refrigeration systems that “work best for them.” Trump made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside Zeldin, according to CNN’s report. ### Why are critics saying grocery prices may not change much? (whitehouse.gov) Steven Yurek, president of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, told Reuters the rollback would not lower consumer costs and said EPA had “no analysis” showing that delaying the deadlines would do so. He said the rule applied to new equipment, not to forcing stores to replace existing systems. (epa.gov) CNN reported that supermarkets operate on thin margins and that many companies had already prepared for or made the required equipment changes. The Food Industry Association estimated the switch away from HFCs could cost about $1 million per grocery store, CNN said, but also reported that the Biden-era rules largely created a one-time cost for new equipment rather than an ongoing grocery-price driver. (usnews.com) ### What happens next? The EPA said on May 21 that the revised Technology Transitions Rule had been signed and submitted for publication in the Federal Register, where the official text will appear. The agency also posted a docket number for the reconsideration rulemaking and said a separate proposal on the 2024 leak-repair requirements would move through the rulemaking process. (ktvz.com) The next public documents are expected to appear through the Federal Register and Regulations.gov docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0005, which EPA identified on its technology-transitions page. Those filings will set out the formal compliance dates and the details of the transport exemption proposal. (epa.gov)