The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules requiring grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment, a step that President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs. Trump said at a White House ceremony that the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.
The move relaxes Biden-era restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, potent greenhouse gases emitted by refrigerators and other appliances. The rule change was the latest attempt by the Republican administration before pivotal elections in November to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living.
It is not clear how much or how quickly grocery prices could be impacted by the regulatory change. Industry groups said it could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.
“Manufacturers made substantial investments to comply with the previous rules,” said Stephen Yurek, president of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, an industry trade group. “Changing course now could disrupt supply chains and potentially increase costs for consumers.”
Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute, which represents grocery stores, said in a statement that the industry has “already invested heavily in transitioning equipment to meet the refrigerant standards” and that the administration’s action “introduces uncertainty that may not translate into the consumer savings the president is seeking.”
The EPA action applies to commercial refrigeration systems used in grocery stores, supermarkets and warehouses, as well as air-conditioning equipment for commercial and residential buildings. The Biden-era rules had been phasing in requirements for businesses to switch to refrigerants with lower global-warming potential.
David Doniger, a senior strategic director for climate and clean energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the rollback “a gift to the chemical industry at the expense of the climate.” HFCs can be thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere.
The rule change comes as the White House has pursued multiple regulatory rollbacks this year under the banner of lowering costs for consumers. The Environmental Protection Agency under Administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed easing pollution limits on coal-fired power plants, coal ash storage and drinking-water contaminants, moves the administration frames as reducing regulatory burdens on businesses.