- EPA regulation from Biden administration required companies and families to replace cooling equipment.
- Trump announced relaxation of "Technology Transitions Restrictions" to save American businesses and families money.
- Grocery store representatives support deregulation to maintain affordable prices.
President Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, announced Thursday they would relax previous regulations set by the Biden administration for refrigerant gases.
In a press conference at the White House, Trump said this change “will deliver significant financial relief, saving American families and businesses more than $2.4 billion” each year.
The previous regulation, the “Technology Transitions Rule,” restricted “the use of certain high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs in aerosols, foams, and refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump products and equipment,” according to the EPA website.
HFCs are hydrofluorocarbons believed to impact climate.
The regulation was put in place in October 2023 and originally stated that all technologies emitting higher-GWP HFCs or HFC blends would need to be replaced by Jan. 1, 2025. A later amendment to the regulation in December 2023 allowed for installations until Jan. 1, 2026.
The consequences of the ‘Technology Transitions Rule’
Trump said the restrictions caused stores and restaurants who could not afford new equipment to close and left families facing higher grocery prices and less access to critical medical supplies. He also said it raised the cost of living by requiring families to buy new, expensive air conditioning systems that met the regulation.
With the deregulation, companies and families will no longer be required to replace their cooling equipment. “Thanks to today’s reforms, the American people have lower grocery prices, cheaper transportation of goods, lower cost of air conditioning at no detriment at all to our country,” Trump said.
Several representatives from grocery stores and chains across the country attended the press conference and thanked Trump for relaxing the regulation.
While some admitted the “Technology Transitions Rule” was a good idea in theory, they said it was put together too quickly and did not account for the costs to businesses and consumers.
“It’s much more complicated than anyone thinks, and to try to rush through was just the wrong way to go,” Michael Gay, the owner of Food Fresh, an independent grocery store in Georgia, said.
Gay said his store had just replaced its refrigerators two years ago before the new restrictions were announced. With the Biden regulation, he would have needed to replace all of the brand new refrigerators, which he said had 20 years of life left, with ones that did not emit the hydrofluorocarbons.
“To replace literally every single piece of equipment in our store would have been unbelievably cost prohibitive,” he said.
Kevin McDaniel, the owner of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket franchise, said it would have cost his company between $800,000 and $1.5 million to replace all of their cooling equipment. Those costs would have trickled down and raised food prices at grocery stores, directly impacting consumers and families across America.
Greg Foran, the CEO of Kroger, said that allowing equipment to serve its whole life span before replacing it is better for everyone.
“An orderly transition of equipment reduces both capital costs and operating costs, and at the end of the day, that’s good for consumers because we’re able to take that and put that into lowering prices,” Foran said.
In contrast, Zeldin said the previous regulation had been a “rushed, frantic, reckless sprint by the Biden administration to phase out reliable equipment for grocery stores, for restaurants and for homes.”
Deregulations by the Trump administration
Trump has been working to relax regulations set in place by the Biden administration since his first day in office. At the press conference, he said his administration has saved Americans $1.2 trillion so far. That number was equated to $14,000 of savings per family in America.
“For every one new regulation that we add, we’re getting rid of 20 to 30 to 40,” Trump said.
At the press conference, Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Florida, praised Trump for allowing “people the opportunity to pursue happiness and not work against them by coming up with regulations that just make it harder to live.”
In the future
A reporter at the press conference asked the companies if money saved by not replacing equipment will really be reflected in lower grocery store prices.
Foran replied that Kroger is working on that right now. He said the company is concerned with the high cost of living in America and wants to get its pricing right.
While Trump did not have specific numbers when asked how much an American family would save each week on groceries, he assured everyone that “the average family will save a lot of money.”