WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions on May 21 aimed at reducing restrictions on refrigerants.
“Today is my honor to be discussing the taking of a very historic action to substantially lower costs for consumers, protect hundreds of thousands of jobs, and save Americans well over $2 billion a year by officially terminating the Biden administration’s ridiculous regulations imposing costly requirements on refrigerators and air conditioners,” Trump said during the Oval Office ceremony.
“It’s ridiculous, unnecessary, and costly, and actually makes the machinery worse.”
Some restaurants and businesses were forced to close when they couldn’t afford to replace refrigerators to comply with the Biden-era regulations, according to the president.
“Americans faced higher grocery prices and reduced access to critical medical supplies,” Trump said. “It was a very catastrophic thing that they did.”
The regulations also created a national security risk by reducing the country’s capacity to produce semiconductors, he said.
Administration officials emphasized the benefits of free market fundamentals.
“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,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars.”
The move is expected to lower grocery prices and transportation costs for refrigerated items, while reducing air-conditioning expenses in homes and businesses. Administration officials estimated annual savings of $2.4 billion, including about $800 million from lower grocery prices, $100 million across industries, and about $1.5 billion in reduced transportation costs.
At issue are hydrofluorocarbons, the gases used as a cooling agent in freezers, air conditioning, and transport refrigeration.
Trump is revising an EPA regulation established by President Joe Biden in 2023, known as the Technology Transitions Rule, and a technical change to Biden’s Emissions Reduction and Reclamation regulation set in 2024.
“Americans were right to be frustrated with the Biden-era refrigerant rules,” Zeldin said.
“They didn’t protect human health or the environment and instead piled on costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires.
“This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”
Expanding the type of refrigerants that Americans can use will protect more than 350,000 jobs while also giving homeowners more options when repairing or replacing their air conditioners.
Zeldin and Kevin Hassett, assistant to the president for economic policy, joined Trump in the Oval Office for the announcement.
Business leaders in attendance included Greg Foran, CEO of the grocery chain The Kroger Co.; William Kevin McDaniel, CEO of McDaniel Family Investments, which controls the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain; and Richard Niemann, owner of Niemann Foods; among others.
Trump has rescinded numerous Biden-era regulations since taking office for a second term, targeting provisions related to energy, climate, labor, and immigration, while dismantling rules mandating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) guidelines.
A February announcement from the EPA removed the Endangerment Finding—a 2009 regulation set under President Barack Obama—a decision that Zeldin calculated would save Americans upward of $1.3 trillion, making it the largest such reform in U.S. history, the agency declared at the time.
The president’s recent deregulatory actions are meant to tackle inflation, according to officials.
Rising gas prices and persistent inflation are impacting Americans’ finances, with the national average for a gallon of gas topping $4.56 as of May 21.
