Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Reconsideration of Certain Regulatory Requirements Promulgated Under the Technology Transitions Provisions of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020
Key claim: The EPA is finalizing targeted adjustments to HFC use restrictions under the AIM Act’s Technology Transitions provisions across multiple refrigeration and air conditioning subsectors, including allowing pre-2025 residential and light commercial equipment inventory to continue to be installed.
Abstract
(Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing changes to regulations promulgated under the Technology Transitions provision of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act), which authorizes the Administrator to restrict fully, partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a “regulated substance” in the sector or subsector in which they are used. This final rule addresses administrative petitions and input received from regulated industry and other interested parties relevant to requirements and restrictions across various refrigeration and air conditioning subsectors, including: refrigerated transport–intermodal containers; industrial process refrigeration and chillers for industrial process refrigeration used in semiconductor manufacturing; retail food supermarket systems; retail food remote condensing unit systems; cold storage warehouses; refrigerated laboratory centrifuges and laboratory shakers; and condensing units in residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps. This final rule also allows the inventory of residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump equipment that was manufactured in the United States or imported into the United States before January 1, 2025, to continue to be installed.
Why this matters
The AIM Act’s Technology Transitions rules directly shape which refrigerants HVAC and refrigeration manufacturers, contractors, and end users can deploy, with real cost and supply-chain consequences. Allowing pre-2025 residential and light commercial inventory to still be installed eases a hard transition deadline that industry warned would strand equipment, while modestly slowing the climate benefit of moving away from high-GWP HFCs.