Trump set to ease climate requirements on food industry refrigeration

• The policies arrive amid rising inflation and polls showing discontent with Trump's economic performance.

Driving the news: The EPA is changing requirements around a class of greenhouse gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), according to the White House official.

• The revisions will include extended compliance deadlines in a 2023 rule, per the White House and USA Today, which first reported the plan.
• The agency is also proposing changes to a separate 2024 rule that governs leaks and management of HFCs.
• It would exempt the refrigerant transportation sector, the New York Times reports.

The big picture: The actions are estimated to save families and businesses over $2.4 billion, "with savings expected to flow directly to consumers through lower grocery prices, cheaper transportation of refrigerated goods and more affordable home air conditioning," the White House official said.

Catch up quick: The EPA was phasing down HFCs under a bipartisan 2020 law Trump signed, and consistent with 2016 amendments to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, a treaty to protect the ozone layer. The U.S. ratified the changes in 2022.

• The treaty has been successful in phasing out ozone-depleting substances, but one side effect was that it boosted the use of HFCs — which are potent greenhouse gases — as substitutes.
• Biden-era rules to ramp down HFCs "piled on costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement Thursday.

The other side: The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, a trade association, criticized the Trump EPA's extension of compliance deadlines.

• "[T]he EPA is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall" under the 2020 law, president and CEO Stephen Yurek said in a statement.
• "So, instead of falling, refrigerant prices are likely to rise, resulting in higher service costs, and higher costs for consumers," he said.

What's next: Trump and Zeldin are slated to jointly announce the moves at the White House Thursday alongside executives from Kroger, Fareway Stores and other food companies.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the trade association response.