EPA Cuts Biden-Era Refrigerant Rules, Saving Americans Over $2.4 Billion and Lowering Food Costs

EPA Cuts Biden-Era Refrigerant Rules, Saving Americans Over $2.4 Billion and Lowering Food Costs

May 21, 2026

WASHINGTON - Alongside President Trump in the Oval Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced two actions that together are estimated to save American families and businesses more than $2.4 billion, with savings expected to flow directly to consumers. The actions, a final rule revising the Biden-Harris Administration's 2023 Technology Transitions Rule and a proposed technical fix to the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation (ER&R), address costly overreaching restrictions limiting the type of refrigerants American businesses and families can use. Together, the Biden-era rules significantly increased grocery prices and the transportation of refrigerated goods to grocery stores and restaurants, among other essential items. The savings delivered by the Trump EPA's actions add to the extensive other regulatory relief EPA has already delivered under Administrator Zeldin's leadership.

The Trump EPA's final revisions to the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule extend compliance deadlines for the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), making a wider variety of refrigerants available to businesses while still meeting statutory requirements under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act. This added flexibility will be felt by supermarkets, in home AC systems, the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, and in the transportation of medical supplies. This will lower food prices across the nation and ensure the U.S. remains competitive on the world stage, while following the law and prioritizing human health and the environment.

"Americans were right to be frustrated with the Biden-era refrigerant rules. They didn't protect human health or the environment and instead piled on costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires," said EPA Administrator Zeldin. "Today, the Trump EPA is fulfilling President Trump's promise to lower costs and is fixing every problem we can under the authority Congress gave us. Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars. This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices."

EPA is also proposing to exempt all road refrigerant transport appliances from HFC leak repair requirements established in the 2024 ER&R Rule, removing burdens for owners and major U.S. operators of these appliances. The Biden Administration made an error in its final 2024 rule, subjecting the refrigerant transport sector to these leak requirements, even though it presents a low risk to human health. The agency will also be reconsidering the rest of the 2024 ER&R Rule in the future. EPA is committed to fulfilling its statutory obligations pursuant to the AIM Act, which must be met unless and until Congress amends federal law.

The savings at a glance include:

• Over $900 million from revisions to the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule, including more than $800 million at the supermarket
• Up to $1.5 billion in projected savings for transporters of refrigerated goods under the proposed ER&R technical fix if finalized
• More than 350,000 high-skilled American jobs safeguarded

For more information, please visit EPA's website.

Background

On March 12, 2025, Administrator Zeldin announced that the agency was reconsidering the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule. In August 2025, Administrator Zeldin joined Vice President J.D. Vance to tour Alta Refrigeration in Peachtree City, Georgia. Shortly following that trip, in September 2025, EPA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reform the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule.

The Biden Administration finalized the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule to force companies to change to specific refrigerants. With insufficient time to safely meet the new costly compliance deadlines and a narrow scope of options, the rule posed a grave risk to human health and the ability for Americans to afford everyday essentials. Had the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule been fully implemented, grocery stores would not have been able to afford equipment to store perishable foods, semiconductor manufacturing would have come to a halt, and families would have been left without AC in the summer.

The 2024 ER&R rule established, among other provisions, leak repair requirements for appliances that contain at least 15 pounds of HFC refrigerants used to transport perishable goods, despite most appliances in the transportation sector utilizing over 15 pounds of refrigerant.