WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency, under the Trump administration, announced regulatory rollbacks that delay the phase-down of high-global-warming-potential hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and exempt transport refrigeration from leak repair requirements. The changes extend by several years the timeline for manufacturers to reduce production of equipment using HFCs, synthetic refrigerants that can be hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere.

The first rollback alters implementation of the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020, which President Donald Trump signed during his first term. A second proposed change would relieve transport companies of obligations to repair HFC leaks in refrigeration units on trucks. An EPA assessment projected that cumulative HFC emissions will increase by 68 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050 compared to the original regulatory path.

Trump said the rollbacks will reduce grocery prices for consumers and asserted they would not harm the environment. “It’s ridiculous, unnecessary and costly,” he said of the existing regulations during a White House announcement. He also suggested he may seek to repeal the AIM Act entirely to make the changes permanent, stating, “We’ve got to get rid of the law that was signed quite a while ago and we have to get rid of that because ultimately we want to make [the changes] permanent.”

Industry and environmental critics challenged the administration’s claims. John Hurst, executive director of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, said the rule changes will disrupt an orderly transition to climate-friendly alternatives. “American manufacturers did what Congress and the first Trump Administration asked them to do,” Hurst said. “They invested in new equipment, new refrigerants, new production lines, and American workers. The Administration has now changed course in a way that weakens those investments.” He added, “I don’t see how it saves any money. It’s not a cost reduction, it’s actually going to be a cost add.” Avipsa Mahapatra, climate campaign director for the Environmental Investigation Agency US, called the first rule change “a reckless step backward for climate action.” She noted that “refrigerated trucks and trailers are among the leakiest users of HFC refrigerants” and said exempting them from leak repair rules undermines effective implementation of the AIM Act.

The EPA estimated the combined rule changes would save Americans more than $2.4 billion over 25 years, but its own economic and environmental assessment acknowledged limitations. “We are not able to quantify all of these tradeoffs in this document,” the agency noted. “The estimates provided are not totally representative of the net effects of this rulemaking.” The analysis also recognized potential cost increases from restricting supply of high-GWP HFCs while boosting demand—a dynamic industry groups say could add nearly $8 billion in refrigerant costs.