President Donald Trump’s administration said Thursday it is extending compliance deadlines tied to Biden-era restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), refrigerants used in cooling equipment, arguing the change will lower costs for businesses and consumers.
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is revising parts of the Biden administration’s 2023 “Technology Transitions Rule,” a regulation under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act that targets hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a class of potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment.
The White House said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized changes that extend compliance deadlines, a move the administration argues will expand the range of refrigerants available to businesses and reduce costs. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the change would give companies more flexibility in choosing cooling equipment and refrigerants.
At the White House event, Trump criticized the prior approach as costly. According to The Daily Wire, he said the Biden-era policy pushed companies toward “specific high-cost refrigerants,” raising the cost of transporting and storing goods.
The administration and some supportive outlets have linked the prior rule to higher grocery prices, while the claimed consumer-price effects are difficult to independently verify and remain contested. The White House has said the broader set of refrigerant-related actions would save families and businesses more than $2.4 billion, projecting savings could show up in grocery prices, transportation costs for refrigerated goods and home air-conditioning expenses.
Climate and industry groups have warned that extending deadlines could slow efforts to reduce emissions from HFCs, which have far higher warming potential than carbon dioxide, and have argued the rules were designed to accelerate a shift toward lower-emissions alternatives.
