Climate Advocates Condemn Trump EPA Move to Prolong Super Pollutant HFCs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule rolling back requirements under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020 to reduce U.S. consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – potent greenhouse gases hundreds to thousands of times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide. Despite a range of stakeholder support for the original rule – including from industry, environmental groups, and local governments – the Agency’s “reconsideration” unnecessarily delays requirements to transition to already available and compliant refrigerants. 

“Today’s decision is a reckless step backward for climate action, public health and economic certainty. Amid dangerous heat waves, climate-fueled disasters and rising energy costs, the Administration is choosing to weaken one of the most effective climate measures available,” says Avipsa Mahapatra, Climate Campaign Director at EIA US. 

The AIM Act is the domestic implementation of a global phasedown of HFCs under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which has been projected to prevent up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century. The original Technology Transition requirements for new equipment were designed to help reduce demand for HFCs in line with the U.S. phasedown, thereby protecting consumers from sudden disruptive price spikes and supporting economic competitiveness.

“The science on HFCs is settled, the alternatives exist and much of industry has spent years preparing for this transition. Rolling back timelines now creates needless uncertainty for businesses that have already invested billions in innovation, manufacturing and workforce training,” says Mahapatra. “Weakening U.S. leadership on HFCs sends the wrong signal globally and risks ceding economic leadership in next-generation cooling technologies to competitors abroad while locking American consumers into dirtier, more expensive systems for years.”

Transitioning equipment to align with the phasedown timeline was essential to allow for businesses to effectively plan and has been a key driver in the increased adoption of lower-GWP refrigerants. By prolonging HFC use in the retail food sector to 2032 where sustainable alternatives are already widely available, today’s rollback claims locking in new HFC-reliant equipment is economically sound, when in fact, declining HFC supply will drive up refrigerant costs that would likely be passed onto customers. EPA noted in its own economic analysis today that it has not quantified the tradeoffs associated with changes to the existing timeline exacerbating the already tight supply of HFCs and market uncertainty. Concerns raised by a few grocery chains on replacing existing equipment or threats of rising food prices are also unfounded, as the rule only applies to new equipment, and demonstrated by nearly 1000 HFC-free ALDI U.S. stores while ranking as one of the least expensive grocery stores.

Additionally, EIA findings show supermarkets using HFCs nationwide have pervasive, systemic leaks, with the average store leaking as much as 25% of its refrigerant each year as per EPA data. For example, the supermarket chain Kroger, a supporter of today’s roll back, states a zero tolerance policy for leaks, but recently settled with the EPA and DOJ over failure to repair ozone-depleting and climate-polluting refrigerant leaks spanning nearly a decade.

“This regulatory rollback stymies U.S. innovation, reduces service sector jobs, and is at odds with the Administration’s goals of U.S. energy independence and dominance,” says Julius Banks, EIA US Senior Technical Lead and former EPA Chief of the GHG Reporting Program. “Retail refrigeration equipment manufacturers have invested in climate-friendly technologies that do not rely on potent long-lived greenhouse gases. These technologies provide improvements of 10-20% in energy efficiency that reduce energy costs that would otherwise be passed down to consumers.”

Today’s announcement does not affect other parts of the AIM Act but sends a mixed message to industry that HFC refrigerants will be phased out in the United States without a consistent regulatory position on the fate of refrigeration equipment relying on HFCs. This disjointed approach will dampen U.S. innovation in energy efficient refrigeration technology and potentially defer that innovation to foreign competitors, increase GHG emissions from legacy equipment, and increase the likelihood of illegal HFC imports flowing into the country. All of which will increase costs to the American consumer without any assurance of protection to their health or the environment. Major industry groups, including the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, are also publicly criticizing today’s rollback as harmful to both U.S. industry and consumers.

Further information and interviews available upon request.

Contact

Holly Koch, Communications and Media Lead, EIA US – [email protected]